Succotash, The Comedy Podcast PodcastThu, 19 Mar 2015 18:23:57 +0000Tue, 31 Mar 2015 18:02:07 +0000Libsyn WebEngine 2.0http://succotashshow.com
enhttp://succotashshow.commarc@succotashshow.com (marc@succotashshow.com)http://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/6/f/f/2/6ff296b53f49bd01/succotash_season_2_trans_300dpi.jpgSuccotash, The Comedy Podcast PodcastMarc Hershonclips,comedy,hershon,marc,podcast,podcasts,succotashyesmarc@succotashshow.comSuccotash Chats Epi106: Long Distancin' with Kevin BartiniThu, 19 Mar 2015 18:23:57 +0000This is the blog entry for Epi106 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, and this is an edition of Succotash Chats, for those of you keeping track. This edition features an interview with our special guest, comedian and podcaster Kevin Bartini.

As a comedian, Kevin is also the warmup guy for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, which stepped into the space vacated by The Colbert Report over on Comedy Central. Larry is killing it in that spot with his show, and Kevin is killing it, too, whipping the audience into a lather before the cameras come on.

In addition, he has a new comedy CD out — The Unintentionally While Album — which I’ll play a track from coming up. AND he’s the guy who kicked off the campaign to get the street in New York where comic great George Carlin grew up named after him, which we talk about in our chat.

Later on in the show we dip briefly into the Tweetsack and we feature our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian and social commentator Will Durst further along in the show as well, talking about Hillary Clinton's too-many-phones email woes. Also, this episode is sponsored by Henderson's High Waister Pants.

This week, for both Splitsider and Huffington Post Entertainment, I’m reviewing Gilbert Gottfriend’s Amazing Colossal Podcast with Gilbert’s guest Dan Harmon, the creator of TV’s Community and Rick & Morty. In the course of that review I mention that I’m also listening to Matt Gourley’s I Was There Too with his guest Jenette Goldstein from Aliens and Terminator 2, and also the Dark Angels & Pretty Freaks podcast.

Not too much more for me to add from the world of podcasting until we get into the Tweetsack a little later. But I did want to mention that, this past week, I started teaching a beginner level improv class at my day job and it’s turning out to be pretty fun. We do it one night a week for a couple of hours after work. And I’m showing how they can use the precepts and techniques of improv to improve presentation and brainstorming skills. It’s the topic of a new book I’ve SLOWLY been trying to pull together. And I mention it because if you work for a company that you think might benefit from these sorts of techniques, I’m available to speak and teach. It’s especially easy if your company is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I can travel as well. If you’re interested in finding out more, you can email me at marc@SuccotashShow.com.

That's about it. Short blog this week. So let me use this extra space to ask you to jump up to our space on iTunes in the podcast department and please rate and review us. A tasty review from you goes a long way to letting friends and strangers know that Succotash is out there, just waiting for them to enjoy all of our podcast goodness. And we'd really appreciate it!

Pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:09:20yespodcast,interview,kevin,comedy,marc,o,pants,clips,burst,clip,durst,hendersons,bartini,succotash,hershon,willdurstSuccotash Clips Epi105: Mini-Chattin' with Paul MecurioFri, 06 Mar 2015 01:15:17 +0000I hate to do this right out of the gate, but I have to start the show off with an apology to our network and the affiliates. And, of course, you – the listener. This edition is meant to be an episode of Succotash Clips, wherein we feature clips, just clip, and nothing but clips. But I have a bit of a chat to toss in, too.

It’s just a smidge of a chat, really.

Friend of the show, past guest, fellow podcaster, and comedian Paul Mecurio called me up and said he was heading for the San Francisco Punchline this week (March 4-7) and could we chat up his appearance. I don’t know that we’ve got that kind of impact on an audience, but I do know that there are Succotashians in the Bay Area so I agreed and we did it.

It was via Skype from New York and the only worse than the quality of a Skype call is a Skype call where one of the people has laryngitis.

Paul also has a new comedy CD out, called It’s Not Me, It’s The World, so we’ll hear a track off of that as well. But after that, I SWEAR the rest of the show is clips. For reals.

Except of a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian and social commentator Will Durst. Oh, and a Henderson’s Pants ad. And the Tweetsack. But the rest? All clips.

The delay for this ‘sode of Succotash making it to your ears was because I was suffering a miserable bout of laryngitis. Every other ailment in the world wouldn’t matter so, of course, a podcaster gets the one thing that keeps him off mic — no voice. You’ll get to hear how that sounded though, because I barely had my voice back last week when I interview Paul Mercurio.

Here’s what’s in the bushel basket o’ clippage we have in store for this show: Pass The Gravy,Proudly Resents, Sibling Rivalry, Soda Press, The Geep And Gam Show, and This Damn World. In addition, we unveil our NEW segment this week! It’s the brainchild of our associate producer Tyson Saner and we call it the Podcast Graveyard! When the time is right, we’ll feature a clip from a podcast that is no longer with us.

CLIPS

Pass The GravyKicking off this show’s official rasher of clips with a show that requested we give them a listen. So Tyson wandered out into the podcast wilderness and brought back a sample of Pass The Gravy, with hosts Alex Middleton - I assume no relation to England’s Princess Kate Middleton – and his partner in crime Curtis Chaffin, also – it is assumed - not related to Kate Middleton. On their website they claim to solve the world’s problems one episode at a time, so it’s nice to know someone is taking care of those matters. They also claim that it is “the podcast nobody is listening to and everyone is talking about”. In this dollop from Pass The Gravy – and, really, what could be more natural than gravy and succotash – the hosts get into dolphin love. Deep into it.

Proudly ResentsWe haven’t featured friend–of-SuccotashAdam Spiegelman and his podcast Proudly Resents in a while. And Adam knows that because he listens. So being a proactive podcaster, he sent us in a clip from his recent interview, a second visit with director Eric Schaeffer. (I’m doing a little back-to-back with Proudly Resents this week. This clip was from his show about a month ago, but I’m also reviewing a more recent episode for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com and for the Huffington Post, where his guest was TV producer Todd Yasui and there’s some amazing behind the scenes stuff revealed about The Tonight Show when Jay Leno was just starting out as the host as well as some revealing “inside baseball” info about the nuts and bolts of talk show television.)

Soda PressWe started getting some very kind retweets and mentions from a new podcast out there called Soda Press, hosted by a guy named Andy Thomas. And then he went and gave us a big ol’ shoutout at the top of a recent episode. So the least we can do is clip him for you. Soda Press episodes are pretty short, and feature Andy monologing about a given topic which spins off into related microrants. We have a snippet of him going off about gross gym wipedown towels.

Sibling RivalryKudos to our friends at the Sibling Rivalry podcast – that would be Jeremy, Stacy, and Aaron — for being savvy enough to know that the EASIEST way to get your comedy podcast clip on our show is to use our custom upload URL through Hightail (http://www.hightail.com/u/Succotash). That’s what our pals over at SibRiv used to get this clip to us, from a recent episode where they’re talking about some unique offers from strip clubs. (I have to also issue an apology to the SibRiv guys. Jeremy and Stacy were good enough to join me in the Podast Lab at the 3rd Annual LA Podcast Festival at the end of LAST SEPTEMBER for an interview. And I still haven’t gotten a chance to play it on the show — along with about a half a dozen others. At this point, I may have to issue the interviews as special Succotash Chats halfisodes and just dump them out there. Sorry, guys…)

The Geep & Gam ShowHosts Geep and Gam run their podcast out of…well, I don’t where the heck they’re from. But they asked us via Twitter if we’ve give’em a listen and clip ‘em and that’s what our stalwart associate producer Tyson Saner has done. In this slice, the show is playing host to two other podcast hosts, Diamond Dave and Aaron Corbett of Canada’s The Cool Story Show.

This Damn WorldAnother show that reached out via Twitter and asked if we’d give ‘em a sniff is the This Damn World podcast, hosted by Dom and Jenn. iTunes describes the show as “a longform conversational podcast” with topics ranging from news, life, and all around creative. The clip we have is from last month, snipped by Tyson out of an episode called “The One Where We Get Sweaty”.

Okie dokie. Succotash Clips with just a side of chat is kaputski. If you’re in the San Francisco area, remember to catch our friend Paul Mecurio this weekend, that’s March 4th through the 7th, at the Punchline. We’ll be back soon with an episode of Succotash Chats, where I’ll be speaking with comedian/podcaster and warmup guy for The Nightly Show,Kevin Bartini. See you then. In the meantime, please remember to pass the Succotash!

Here in San Francisco, the 14th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest just wrapped up. One of the groups making their return to the ‘fest was the Thrilling Adventure Hour and, for the third year in a row, I sat down with Hal Lublin, the official announcery guy for TAA.

We catch up with what he’s been doing since we chatted last year and then launch into a pretty wide ranging discussion about podcasts, comedy, who would we cast if they made a movie out of The Greatest American Hero, a moment with comedian Bil Dwyer who happened to stop by, Big Time Wrestling, and a bunch of other stuff.

Prior to the interview, I pulled down the audio from a video Hal did back in 2006 for the company where he works as an IT admin. And in a series of videos for the company, he comically appears as Hal the IT Admin. It's pretty funny for a corporate video. Since this blog is a visual medium, here's the video itself:

(Apologies in advance for the quality of the audio in this episode's interview. Hal and I were in the lobby of the Hotel Tomo in Japantown and there was music piped into the lobby which we couldn’t do anything about. Hopefully, after listening for a few minutes, you’ll tune most of that distraction out.)

Podcast Graveyard Teaser

If you’re looking for comedy podcast clips, we’re lining up a full rack of them in upcoming Epi105, including a brand new feature that our associate producer, Tyson Saner, cooked up called the Podcast Graveyard. Tyson has been discovering the bones of so many discarded podcasts floating around on the internet that he’s going to start exhume the a few dusty clips and we’ll start sharing them with you.

Burst O' Durst

This episode we feature our resident comedian/social commentator Will Durst in our Burst O' Durst segment. In it, he sounds off about a modern version of the tar pits, and the types of dinosaurs they’re taking down.

Henderson's Pet Pants

This episode of Succotash is brought to you by Henderson’s Pet Pants. Unfortunately, their check once again failed to clear at the bank, so we’re asking for your help to keep Succotash going. Clicking on the Donate button on our http://SuccotashShow.com homesite. You’ll be whisked off to our secure PayPal site where you can, in the privacy of your own mouse, decide how much you’d like to kick into the Succotash saucepan. Every bit helps to defray the costs of production, posting, promotion and other things that start with “p”. Plus you’ll get a hearty thank you and a shout out right here on the show.

Until we return next time, with Epi105 of Succotash Clips, please take time out to Like us on Facebook, rate AND review us up on iTunes, heart us on SoundCloud, thumbs up us on Stitcher, buy our merch through the Succotashery, click our Donate button, and shop on Amazon by clicking on the banner at the top of the page on our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com.

And thanks, as always, for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:04:07yescomedy,podcasts,pet,marc,pants,clips,hal,chats,hendersons,succotash,hershon,lublin,tweetsackSuccotash Clips Epi 103: Boozin' With BIll ReduxTue, 10 Feb 2015 14:29:19 +0000It’s me, Marc Hershon, and I'll be your host and concierge for Epi103 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is a Succotash Clips episode, where we feature clips from comedy podcasts and DON’T feature any interviews with anyone.

Although we do have a new Boozin’ With Bill segment, where I pay a visit to our announcer Bill Heywatt in the Studio P wet bar and he mixes up one of his alcohol-laden concoctions. This time out we’ll hear him mix up something he calls "Groovy Love-In Punch".

Why Not Network?

If you didn't know it before, Succotash is an independent podcast, as are so many of the shows that you can find strewn across the internet. But it’s funny – I was asked not once but twice this past week by a couple of different podcasters what network we’re on and, when they found out we’re NOT part of a network, why aren’t we?

I don’t know, actually.

I approached a couple of networks fairly early on in our operation and there was little or no interest – I think, at the time, they really wanted shows that were pulling significant numbers to help bolster the network’s ratings. Now, of course, there are networks like the Wolfpop Network, which came out of the gate with shows that were brand new.

I’m not opposed to having this show on a podcast network. It would certainly keep me honest and having to maintain a strict release schedule. Plus we’d probably have sponsors and might even start bringing in a little money instead of having to pay it out every month. And there’d be added publicity, too.

I’m not going to start knocking on doors right now, though. I have to imagine most of the networks know who and what Succotash is by now. Maybe if we were a review show we’d be a hotter commodity but that’s not what we’re about – and THAT could be the problem. Networks want listeners for their shows so why would they carry a show that’s letting people know what comedy podcasts are out there in the world NOT on their network?

So, until further notice, Succotash remains a proudly solo podcast, and our main mission of letting people know about the wide variety of comedy shows that are out there is still very firmly in place. Feel free to show your support for our efforts to do so by rating and reviewing us on iTunes, giving us a “thumbs up” on Stitcher, “hearting” us on SoundCloud, Liking our Facebook page, and/or clicking the Donate button on our http://SuccotashShow.com homepage.

A Sound Experiment

Epi103 might sound a little different to those of you who have been listening to Succotash for a while. I'm giving an app called BossJock a try this time out, which is the equivalent of have a radio studio in your smartphone or tablet. The set-up is pretty simple and really applicable a show like ours, where we play a lot of clips.

I'm not going to wax too technical, but BossJock lets you load up audio clips of any length and they are available much like old-style tape cartridges ("carts") were in my old radio days. There's the ability to record through either the devices microphone or a plug-in mic of your choosing and there you are — all set up in your studio, with the controls at your fingertips.

The app give you a maximum of 15 "carts" with a phone and 35 with a tablet. I was using my iPad to carry my scripted rundown and my iPhone to record, but I could have just as easily switched. I'm used to assembling the show by mixing my voice tracks, music, and podcast clips after they're all laid out. SO it was interesting to do the whole thing on the fly with BossJock.

There were a few rough patches as I was getting used to moving in and out of the clips, and I didn't have enough carts to give myself a music bed under the TweetSack. So I did a little tinkering in GarageBand afterward. But I really had fun with the practice of putting everything together - essentially - in one sitting, while literally sitting in my car.

Coming Up In This Episode

In addition to our Boozin’ With Bill adventure and a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, we have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian/commentator Will Durst, and clips from the following podcasts: Artist’s Alley, The Big Cat Show, The Kimchi Chronicles, Making Ends Meet, The Pauly Shore Podcast Show, Taco Tuesday, and Tangentially Speaking — not necessarily in that order.

Plus, of course, we dip into the Tweetsack at the end of the show.

The Clips

The Pauly Shore Podcast ShowThis past week, for Splitsider.com and Huffington Post Entertainment, I reviewed The Pauly Shore Podcast Show. You can go read the review in either place by clicking the links above, but here are the short strokes: Pauly Shore’s back and podcasting’s got him…again. In his 40’s now, Shore still scores with his “perma-slacker” voice and attitude, clearing needing the several members of his support team in the studio to get him from point A to point B. Even the point of editing seems to escape him at times, with Shore once needlessly recapping something that we just heard happen (which had apparently been a while back in real time.) Childhood friend and occasional acting rival David Arquette is his guest and their chat is very loose, hilariously wandering from topic to topic, including Arquette’s childhood, growing up with his acting siblings, life with Courtney Cox, life without Courtney Cox, and how things are now with a three-year relationship and an 8-month old son.

The Big Cat ShowWe recently featured a clip from The Big Cat Show with our old pal Lyonheart and I don’t like to repeat shows in quick succession, but Lyon does his show live on Thursday nights every week and he recently got a surprise caller. That’s pretty cool. Hannibal Burress just calling in. (Lyon, I think you could have parleyed that into a longer interview, though. Note to self: Don’t kick off an interview about talking smack about the star of the movie your guest is appearing in. Just a thought.) You can call into his show yourself every Thursday night at 7 PM East Coast time.

Artists AlleyOur associate producer Tyson Saner grabbed a clip from the Artists Alley podcast, hosted by Merill Barr. His guest in this slice from this past December is Troy Conrad, the brains behind the hilarious Set List show, which makes comedians invent material on the spot based on bizarre premises that he pops up on a screen on stage. Here he reveals an upcoming twist to the premise.

The Kimchi ChroniclesI got a note from friend of SuccotashNigel Boydell, who listeners may know from the Uncle Arthur’s Bollocks and HMS Codcast podcasts. He says: Hi Marc! I have included a short clip from my latest venture. I have been recording a podcast with my co-host, Samantha Pett. The Kimchi Chronicles is an intercontinental project. Sam is an English teacher in Ulsan, South Korea. We get together every couple of weeks to record a podcast over Skype. Because of the 9 hour time difference, Sam is usually recording in the early hours, and is usually fairly, how should I say, lubricated by the time the recording ends. Kimchi is a staple food in Korea, hence the title, and soju is a cheap alcholic drink, hence the lubrication. They sent along the sample we're featuring in this episode of the show.

Taco TuesdayWe recently featured a clip from Taco Tuesday with Podcast Dan and Adam Wolf and normally we’d wait a while before going back to the same well. But those guys are savvy enough to try out our new Hightail link for uploading clips directly to our show, so as a reward, we have another taste of Taco Tuesday.

Comedy Podcasters: If you'd like to upload a 3-5 minute MP3 clip directly to us, just use this link: http://www.hightail.com/u/Succotash.

Making Ends MeetTyson has clipped us a sample of Making Ends Meet, a podcast where New Yorkers Max Ash andTovah Silbermann talk to noobie comedians about their day jobs and how they can afford to be a comic in one of the most expensive cities in the country. In this samplage, the pair is talking with Sharron Paul.

All right, friends. That's what is in store for Epi103. Next time, Epi104 will be a Succotash Chats edition and our special guest will be Hal Lublin from The Thrilling Adventure Hour, back for his 3rd annual visit from when TAA was here at SF Sketchfest last weekend.

If you want to be our bestest friend, please take time out to Like us on Facebook, rate AND review us up on iTunes, heart us on SoundCloud, thumbs up us on Stitcher, buy our merch through the Succotashery, click our Donate button, and shop on Amazon by clicking on the banner at the top of the page on our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com.

And thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:07:23yespodcast,big,show,comedy,speaking,cat,artists,marc,making,bill,tuesday,meet,chronicles,will,pants,alley,shore,clips,ends,taco,durst,hendersons,pauly,kimchi,succotash,hershon,heywatt,tweetsack,tangentiallySuccotash Epi102: Bein' Real with Brian FlahertyTue, 27 Jan 2015 14:11:38 +0000This is Epi102 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. Also known as the first episode of Succotash Chats.

Chats. No clips. Well, not clips per se.

We do have a couple of our Burst O’ Durst segments with comedian/commentator Will Durst. And an ad for Henderson’s Space Pants. And the Tweetsack. But NO comedy podcast clips. If you're sniffin' around for clips, please be sure to check out our previous Epi101, which was our first Succotash Clips show. All clips. No chats. And the NEXT episode, #103, will be all clips again.

I also invite you to check out our past episodes via our homepage, at http://SuccotashShow.com. We’ve had some great interviews in our past 100 episodes. And while you’re there, feel free to click on our Donate button, shop at our Succotashery, or use the Amazon banner at the top of the page to do your shopping on Amazon.com and they’ll throw us a few bones!

In the chat circle this week, our special guest is Brian Flaherty, the host of the New Hollywood podcast. I’ve been enjoying his podcast which focuses – mostly – on people connected to movies in the 1970’s, although he’s begun to push out from those parameters a little bit. A couple of episodes ago he had filmmaker Adam McKay as his guest and did a special “pre” episode with McKay playing a character named Alan Marlowe, a 70’s sleazy movie producer.

Brian and I talk about how that came about, how he got into podcasting and what he does around Hollywood as a part-time actor when he’s not part-time acting.

That’s it for our very first Succotash Chats episode. Next time we’ll be back with Succotash Clips, along with a new Boozin’ With Bill segment, a Burst O’ Durst, and who knows what else.

I’ve got a favor to ask, and it won’t cost you a cent. Just jump up on iTunes and search for Succotash – this podcast – and give us a nice rating and a quick review. It will help increase our visibility, you’ll be immortalized on the review page, plus I’ll be your bestest friend.

Alright, chum, thanks for listening and be sure to pass the Succotash!

As previously announced, my plan for Season 2 is to split our usual Succotash offerings – Clips and Chats – into separate shows. And that’s what you have here in the first show of Season 2. Succotash Clips.

All clips.

No interviews.

My goal is to have these shows come in at about or under an hour. And they should be a little easier to produce as well. Our Associate Producer, Tyson Saner, grabbed up a bunch of comedy podcasts clips. I’ve pulled a few. And so let me give you the rundown of the podcasts we’re sampling this time out: 80’s Reboot Overdrive, Comedy On Vinyl, Getting On, Hello Internet, The Kundalini Files, That Would Be Me and The Big Cat Show.

In addition, we’ve got not one but TWO of our Burst O’ Durst segments this show, a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, and the Tweetsack.

IN REVIEW

Now that the holiday break is over, I’m back posting podcast reviews. This past week, for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com and Huffington Post Entertainment, I took a listen to a couple of very funny episodes of The New Hollywood Podcast with Brian Flaherty. On Monday he had a short 15 minute installment with schlocky 70’s film producer Alan Marlowe, followed on Wednesday featuring an interview with Alan McKay, Will Ferrell’s comedic partner in crime.

The joke is that Marlowe is a character that McKay started riffing during his interview with Brian, so they went with it and made it a self-contained bit, which Brian then posted as a special episode. Check that out if you can – just follow the links above. (By the way, I also mentioned the Casa Mirth podcast with Dr. Norman Trousers and River Zambezi, and I also pinged the OnBrand podcast, which isn’t a comedy podcast but it’s about branding, which is my main day job, and host Nick Westergaard had my friend Pat Hanlon on as a guest so there.)

Oh, and if you didn’t get a chance to catch the Casa Mirth Christmas Spectacular, you should, if only to hear my stirring introduction.

THE JOB INTERVIEW

Maybe it's because I just started a new job at the beginning of the year, but I found the video sketch The Job Interview, by our friend John Dredge (host of The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything Show podcast) to be pretty clever.

THE CLIPS

Getting On with James UrbaniakIf you’re a podcast aficionado, chances are that you’ve heard James Urbaniak appearing as a guest on any number of shows out there, including The Thrilling Adventure Hour and Comedy Bang Bang. He’s a very talented vocal artist as well as and actor and a comedian. And he’s had his own podcast for a while. He doesn’t release them regularly – in fact, since 2012, there seem to only be about 21 episodes out there. Each one features him “navigating the darkly comedic recesses of his troubled yet charming mind,” according to his homesite.

80’s Reboot OverdriveOur Associate Producer Tyson Saner stumbled headfirst into something called the Southgate Media Group. It’s a network of podcasts that got going about a year and a half ago, the brainchild of Rob and Martha Southgate. Almost every show on their lineup – and I counted 24 of them – is dedicated to a TV show. There’s also a show about video games and one potpourri crazy roundup of a show called 80’s Reboot Overdrive. That’s where this clip comes from, and it features host Dave talking to Southgate Media’s heads Rob and Martha Southgate, along with their 7-year-old daughter Molly, who co-hosts THREE of the podcasts with her parents.

The Big Cat ShowWe haven’t heard from our old pal Lyonheart for a really long time. He had an internet radio show a couple of years ago, then he shut it down and headed out West for a bit, landing in San Jose to take care of some family stuff. But the West Coast didn’t suit him and he went back East once again, to New York this time with his buddy Matt.

Hello InternetTyson tossed us a clip this week from Hello Internet, a show I’m not familiar with. It features hosts CGP Grey and Brady Haran. I’m not sure what’s up with the three initials – the CGP Grey thing – but according to their homesite, the two guys kick around YouTube, life, work, and whatever. Grey’s got several videos on YuTube under the title “Grey Explains” and there’s one on the Lord of The Rings, robots, and other interesting subjects.

The Kundalini Files ReduxFriends-of-SuccotashDavian Dent and Jason McNamara (also known as Jabs from The Dhead Factor podcast), had done a 6-part detective spoof podcast called The Kundalini Files a couple of years ago. Davian has re-cut and re-mastered those shows and put them altogether into something he calls a feature-length show he calls The Kundalini Files Redux.

Comedy On VinylI’m going to assume that, if you’re a listener to Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, that you’re a fan of both comedy and podcasts. That combo probably can’t get much better than on a show called Comedy On Vinyl. Normally the comedy nerds on the show, headed up by host Jason Klamm, talk about the greatest comedy vinyl albums of all time. Our associate producer Tyson Saner found an intriguing break from that format with their epi119, featuring guest Jimmy Pardo, host of the Never Not Funny podcast, who brought the chat around to the effect that Richard Lewis’ 1985 TV special “I’m In Pain” had on him.

That Would Be MeAuthor Geoff Hoff does a lot of self-help books on writing and other topics, including an e-course on how to start your own podcast. He recently started doing a humor podcast himself, called That Would Be Me. Refreshingly, these are pretty short installments, and the subjects are presented in an observational style, which is a nice break from the glut of pop culture casts that seem to be propagating faster than ever.

That's the lineup and the skinny for the first show of Succotash, Season 2. Drop me a line at marc@SuccotashShow.com and let me know what you thought of our first Succotash Clips show. Next we’ll have a Succotash Chats edition, so you can compare the two flavors of Succotash.

One way you can help us out as we move into Season 2 is to get up to iTunes so you can rate and review us. You’d be amazed what a couple of sentences and 5 stars can do for our rankings. Neither of which costs you a dime. To help us out in a more material way, there’s the Donate button up at http://SuccotashShow.com and we also have t-shirts, mugs and other merch with our brand new Succotash logo up now at the Succotashery.

First off, I'm kicking off this Epi100 show blog by revealing the all new Succotash logo for Season 2! Designed by Page Branson, co-host of the Level 7 Access podcast, this spiffy new look will soon be available in the Succotashery on shirts n' stuff.

Okay. So, my ORIGINAL plan was to do the first live Succotash show for Epi100 but the occasion was dovetailing with my wife and I making a move to a new place AND me making a move to a new job.

I was also afraid that the thing would turn out to be not quite so tremendous an extravaganza as I was picturing in my mind.

Instead, I planned a trip back to Studio P to visit with our Engineer/Producer Joe Paulino. We have a nice discussion in studio about where the show has been and where it's going, as well as a mini-state of the podcast form as it exists today. As we also discuss, Succotash has gone beyond having to rely on Joe to cobble together our nonsense but he is still my rock and my inspiration. Plus he puts together great stuff for our show all the time.

Coming up in this Epi100, our final show of Succotash, The Comedy Podcast Podcast, Season 1, we FINALLY have a new Boozin’ with Bill segment, wherein our booth announcer Bill Heywatt teaches me (and you) how to whip up a special concoction in honor of our centennial ‘sode of Succotash. Embarrassingly, it called “Up The Hershon Highway”. I include the formula here.

Our sponsor Henderson’s Pants has created a new pantaloon specifically in honor of our 100th episode.

We also have a double dose of political comedian Will Durst with our Burst O’ Durst. (If you're in or near the San Francisco Bay Area this holiday season, be sure to catch Durst and his cadre of comics who are appearing in the Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show XXII December 26 - January 3, 2015.

Cast of the Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show

Oh, and we dip into the Tweetsack this episode as well. We got a pile of congratulatory messages – thanks so much to those of you who took time out to send those along, either called into the Succotash Hotline or sent in to us. We play those throughout the show, including a really nice message from our own Associate Producer Tyson Saner, whose become a vital component to make this show happen. (Special thanks to Dana Carvey, who supplied the messages from Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Paul McCartney, and Michael Caine!)

We’ve got some clips, as per usual - none of which have anything to do with our 100th episode milestone.

CLIPS

Chillpak Hollywood HourOur friends in podcasting – Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness – of the Chillpak Hollywood Hour, have been doing a series of pre-recorded shows and, as usual when that happens, there are not a lot of Succotash mentions for us to replay. This week, they sent along a very special Happy 100 episode message! (By the way, their show last week with guest Suli McCullough last week was dynamite! It touched on race and racism, both in and out of the Hollywood business, as well as growing up in Silicon Valley, and was also hilarious at times.)

Screams & MoansFriend-of-Succotash Megan M recently made her first year as a podcaster with Epi26 of her own Screams & Moans podcast. Also known as @PodcastWhore on Twitter, she's been a big supporter of Succotash. And we’re glad to see her interest in the medium has turned into an avocation. Congrats, Megan! We feature a clip of her awarding the First Place Award to her Most Drunken Listener.

Urban Mamas PodcastOur Associate Producer Tyson found us this clip from the Urban Mamas podcast out of Portland, Oregon, where Ray Ann Peil and Kelli Martinelli say – via their website – that they are "out to change the world one swear jar at a time." Crammed into this clip are such topics as adoption, the aforementioned swear jars, and negotiating Halloween candy. Joining them as a guest is anotha mutha, Sabrina Williamson.

Wheelbarrow Full Of DicksWe got a 100th episode congrats message in the Tweetsack from Mike Moore and the gang – Nappier, Travis, and Drunk – over at Wheelbarrow Full of Dicks. It reads: “First off, congratulations on the milestone over there. 100 episodes is an impressive number. We appreciate all that you do." And they included a clip from a new segment on their show called "Romance Is Dead." It's basically a sit-com featuring a suburban dad in a post-apocalyptic world whose family who were all bitten and turned to zombies.

Taco TuesdayThanks to Podcast Dan and Adam Wolf for their congratulations message. They also included a taste of their Taco Tuesday podcast. These guys do a real combo platter of stuff: tech, music, and comedy. And it’s the only podcast I know of – so far – booming out of Killeen, Texas. In this clip from their Epi16 – it goes back a bit to Thanksgiving time – they’re talking whether to brine a turkey or not, and whether deviled eggs are better with Miracle Whip or mayo.

The Higher Learning ChannelSometimes the best way to lure in new listeners, as well as to make your show stand out from the crowd, is to give your podcast a high-falutin’ name. Seems to work for The Higher Learning Channel, out of New York City and hosted by Ginzilla and Matthew Sire. It’s just a cover for another pop culture-based podcast, one which features – according to their homesite – “Weirdos. Creatives. Podcasters.” In this clip from Epi14, their guest is comic book creator Pat Reilly and they get into the art of drawing dicks. Yeah, dicks. But classy, comic book dicks.

That’s it! The end of Succotash, Season One! 100 episodes, presented in order and in their entirety. (Plus a handful of mini "halfisodes"…) If you missed any, you should be able to dredge them up at our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com.

Starting with Episode 101, we switch to our new split format, where shows will either be Succotash Clips or Succotash Chats. And with any luck at all, we’ll start getting them out on a regular basis. Thanks so much for being part of our first season. Hope you’ll stick around to see where we go next with the show.

And please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:13:51yespodcast,matt,dana,episode,dean,comedy,marc,phil,will,clips,tyson,100th,durst,saner,haglund,knudsen,carvey,chillpak,succotash,hershon,leirness,tweetsackSuccotash Epi99: Podfestin' with Todd Glass & Matt KnudsenMon, 24 Nov 2014 20:46:47 +0000You are, once again – unless this is your first time – listening to Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. (Or the Comedy Earfruit Earfruit. Ever since my chat with Superego's Matt Gourley, I’ve become obsessed with renaming the generic podcast with something. What do you think of earfruit?) This is Succotash Epi99! The penultimate episode of Season One. That’s right. Episode 100 will be the final show for our first season.

But that’s next time.

THIS time we have a helluva show for you with not one but TWO interviews that I did when I was at the 3rd Annual LA Podcast Festival at the end of September.You’ll hear my chat with Todd Glass of the Todd Glass Show and with Matt Knudsen from the Grabbing Lunch podcast. (Or earfruit.)

I’ll also be playing clips from both of their podcasts PLUS clips from Picking Favorites, a new podcast on the new Wolfpop Network, the Angry Old Man podcast, Denzel Washington is The Greatest Actor of All Time PERIOD, and Today We Learned teaches us all a little something about the dumbest laws in the United States.

We also have a DOUBLE dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian Will Durst, a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, and a musical track from our Associate Producer Tyson Saner that is featured on Combat Radio’s First Christmas Album, which is a great way to help out friend-of-Succotash Ethan Dettenmeier’s Christmas Event for Homeless Children Benefit. You can find out order the album and find out more about the benefit by visiting OUR homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com, and click on the album cover on the right hand side.

Wish Us A Happy 100TH Episode!

If you’re a comedy podcaster or just a regular old listener, there’s still time to get us your “Happy 100th Episode Anniversary!” message for us to play on our one hundredth show. You can call one into the Succotash Hotline, at (818) 921-7212, or email us an MP3 or WAV file to marc@SuccotashShow.com. (Not to throw a challenge out there, but in this episode I'm playing a great 100th episode message in from the guys over at Illusionoid and I’ve got to say that I really appreciate the extra effort that went into it.

PodBay's Top 10 Comedy Podcasts

It’s been TWO months since Stitcher has updated their Top 100 Comedy Podcast List. Not sure what’s going on over there. (Heck, given the nature of technology, maybe my browser is screwed up.) But I’m not able to track podcasts through Stitcher’s site these days so rather than NOT do our Top 10 Most Active Shows On Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List, I hopped over to PodBay’s site to harvest their list of the most recent Top 10 Comedy Podcasts according to the live iTunes rankings. (PodBay, by the way, is a GREAT podcast app on iOS and Android, so be sure to check it out if you want a super duper podcast experience!)

1 With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus2 Psychobabble with Tyler Oakley3 Welcome to Nightvale4 WTF with Marc Maron5 The Joe Rogan Experieince6 The Nerdist7 The Adam Carolla Show8 How Did This Get Made?9 Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast10 Not Too Deep With Grace Helbig

A Little Christmas Music

Our own Tyson Saner wrote and performed an instrumental tune that he did for the First Combat Radio Christmas Album to help raise money for Ethan Dettenmeier’s 4th Annual Combat Radio Christmas Event for Homeless Children. You can donate to the Combat Radio Christmas Event at http://www.gofundme.com/ACombatRadioChristmas and get the album for a suitable donation OR go to the right-hand side of our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com, and click on the Combat Radio Christmas Album. Tyson’s cut is entitled For Christmas and feature in during this episode both under our Tweetsack mentions and then in its entirety at the end of the show.

The Clips

Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time PERIODLast week on Splitsider.com and HuffPost Comedy I reviewed this new podcast, one of Wolfpop’s new shows, hosted by recent Succotash special guest W. Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery, a soon-to-be guest on this show. Both of these guys spent a lot of their formative funny years as San Francisco comedians, then Kamau got his own show, Totally Biased, for a while on FX and FXX. Kevin was head writer on that show and, when it got cancelled, he found a place on the writing staff on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight on HBO. The two of them decided to put together a podcast about one of their favorite people, Denzel Washington, to let everyone know what a terrific actor they think he is.

The Todd Glass ShowI was glad I got a chance to sit with Todd Glass at this year’s LA Podcast Festival. I know him a little bit from the LA comedy scene and he’s played in Northern California during the past couple of years and we got to hangout just before he started HIS podcast, the Todd Glass Show. Before I get to our chat, I wanted to play a little piece of a recent epi of his show, one featuring guest Patton Oswalt.

Picking FavoritesIf you were a fan of NBC’s series Chuck, about a nerdy big box store employee who get a computer stuffed into his noggin, you know Zachary Levi, the star of the show. David Coleman was the propmaster on that show, kind of the Q of TV comedy spy show, if you will. Together, they started a business called The Nerd Machine and now they have this Wolfpop podcast, Picking Favorites, started with the help of a comedian who goes by the name Razzle Dangerously, who also host a show on the Nerdist network called Today We Learned, which we’ll be playing a clip from momentarily. Then they drafted Tyler Labine, a hilarious actor from shows like Reaper, The Sons of Tucson, and the movie Tucker & Dale vs Evil. Picking Favorites starts with three topics each episode and the hosts and guests go round-robin style, naming off their favorites of whatever the topic happens to be. In the second show, their guest was Adam Baldwin, another Chuck alumnus (and also one of the stars of Monster Makers, a movie I wrote for the Hallmark Channel.)

Today We LearnedAssociate Producer Tyson Saner grabbed the previous clip and this next clip, which comes from the Today We Learned podcast, featuring Razzle Dangerously (as heard in the Picking Favorites clip), and Dan Casey. This Nerdist show says that the hosts bring you “the latest and greatest and sometimes weirdest facts and trivia the world has to offer.” In this clip, from their Epi62, the hosts and their guest Jacob Soboroff talk about dumb laws in the United States.

Angry Old ManWe clipped The Angry Old Man podcast quite a while ago – Episode 53, I think – so it’s high time we hit him again. All I know about the ringmaster for this podcast is that he goes by the name Robert Q, and that he does all the voices on this thing. Tyson grabbed the cold opening from Angry Old Man Epi 90 so have a listen…

Grabbing LunchI was first introduced to Matt Knudsen, host of the Grabbing Lunch podcast, at the most recent LA Podcast Festival when Christine Blackburn (of the Story Worthy podcast) dragged him into the Podcast Lab and told me, “You have GOT to interview Matt!” I really enjoyed our chat and I love the premise for his podcast. Simple. Filling. Grab two people who listeners may or may not have heard of before, sit ‘em down to lunch and turn the mics on. This clip is from his Epi52 – at one episode a week, that’s his one year anniversary. And his guests were actress Helen Slater from things like Supergirl and City Slickers, and her husband Rob Watzke, a Hollywood editor and improviser.

Join us next time for Epi100, the last show of Season 1! Until next time, thanks for passing the Succotash!

– Marc Hershon

]]>01:49:07yespodcast,old,radio,kevin,matt,combat,comedy,podcasts,tyler,w,marc,washington,man,bell,todd,zachary,levi,pants,glass,kamau,clips,tyson,avery,denzel,angry,saner,hendersons,labine,knudsen,succotash,hershon,tweetsack,ethen,dettenmeierSuccotash Epi98: Mixin' It Up with Matt GourleyMon, 10 Nov 2014 08:21:47 +0000Oh, hey – it’s your old pal Marc Hershon. Unless this is your first time listening to Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, in which case it’s your new pal Marc Hershon. Either way, this is Epi98. Just TWO episodes away from our Epi100 and the end of Succotash Season 1.

In regards to that, we’ve been tweeting requests for podcasters and listeners to call in "Happy Episode 100!" messages to the Succotash Hotline – (818) 921-7212 – and so far we’ve got nothing.

I was planning to do a big live episode for number 100 but with such an underwhelming response to the show’s Season 1 finale, I think we’re going to go back into Studio P with our engineer/producer Joe Paulino, announcer Bill Heywatt, booth announcer Kenny Durgis, and just do a slam-bang highly produced extravaganza. (Unlike this week’s episode, which was recorded in Studio F - my Fiat - while parked in my driveway in the middle of the night.)

Incidentally, this episode is NOT brought to you by SquareSpace, Nature Box, Cards Against Humanity, Dollar Shave Club or any other legitimate paying advertisers but we are sponsored by Henderson’s Pants and YOUR kind donations, merch purch, and/or clickthroughs on our Amazon.com banner at the top of our http://SuccotashShow.com homesite.

We’ve got a big old sweaty handful of clips from comedy podcasts around the interwebs, many of which were harvested by our Associate Producer Tyson Saner. Also on tap this episode is not one but TWO of our Burst O’ Durst segments with political and social comedian/commentator Will Durst, a fresh Henderson’s Pants commercial and the Tweetsack is back! (I pushed it off last episode because we were running so long but we’ll be mentioning a few notes we’ve gotten this time around as well as a bunch of kind folks who have been passing the Succotash via social media.)

What we also have in store for you in THIS very show, this Epi98, is an interview I recorded over Skype a few days ago with Matt Gourley, who many of you may know as ¼ of the Superego podcast. He also co-hosts the James Bonding podcast with Matt Myra. But his main reason for dropping by, virtually speaking, was to talk about his newest podcast AND the new network that it’s helping to launch.

Just this past week, the Wolf Pop podcast network started. It’s a spinoff of sorts from the Earwolf Network, home of many fine comedy podcasts such as Comedy Bang Bang, Affirmation Nation with Bob Ducca, Nerd Poker and many others. Wolf Pop is going to feature more shows with a pop culture bent, under the stewardship of the very funny Paul Scheer, whom you may know from the How Did This Get Made? podcast, his appearance on TV’s The League and many other endeavors. Matt’s new show is called I Was There Too, and features Matt interviewing different guests each episode, guests who were connected to a famous scene or moment in a movie but just as a bit part player or an extra on the film.

For instance, his guest on the first show, which dropped this week, is Paul F. Tompkins, who was in There Will Be Blood and was in a scene with Daniel Day Lewis. We feature a clip from that premiere episode on this show, along with my chat with Matt. (I also review I Was There Too this week for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com and for Huffington Post Comedy as well.)

Coming Soon: Season 2!

If you missed me talking about what Season Two of Succotash has in store, I’m going to be splitting the show into two different flavors which will both be available in the regular show feed. We will have clips-only episodes under the subtitle of Succotash Clips and then we’ll have interview shows subtitled Succotash Chats. And, occasionally, we might still mix those offerings for a serving of Succotash Clips n’ Chats.

No More 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List?

It seems that Stitcher has been updating some hooha in the jezzleneck because of a defective framus and their numbers have been all kablooie since the middle of September. Now I was planning on maybe scapping this feature anyway after Epi100 so maybe we’ll just let it quietly crawl off and die in the bushes.

The Clips

TomefooleryTwice a month, comedian Cody Melcher invites a couple of funny friends on his Tomefoolery podcast to talk about a really, really weird book they've all just read. Comedianne Stephanie Hasz co-hosts this epi and guests include Chris Geiger, Mary Beth Smith and Claire Friedman from "The Nerdologues", a CHicago sketch group. The book for this episode is called A Christian Response to Dungeons and Dragons, written by Peter Leithart and George Grant in 1987. (Our Associate Producer Tyson mentioned that, “This is not something I knew existed and I'm almost sure that my Dad would have mentioned it as he came from a religious background and is NOT a 'Satan Worshipper'.” This clip is of the folks re-enacting a famous "Chick Tract" called "Dark Dungeon" that is anti-Dungeons and Dragons. That "Chick Tract" has since been made into a film that was funded by Kickstarter. They want $5 bucks for the film online, which looks like it cost 5 bucks to make. Here's the trailer for it if you want to spend YOUR money on it…

Transformers 1986As if to test the modern axiom, “There’s a podcast for everything”, Podcast Squared’s Andrew Johnstone has unveiled the Transformers 1986 podcast. To bring his audio vision to life, he’s assembled a roundtable of podcasting podcasters — Jason “The Angry Ginger” (7 Days A Geek), Ben Tippett (Titanium Physicists), and Jim Chipley (Bizz and Chips), along with comedian Joe Starr. The first epsiode uses the nerd minds of the panel to deconstruct the first 20 minutes of this animated “classic” motion picture. So far there is only the first episode of Transformers 1986 so there’s plenty of time to jump aboard!

Pizza Beer RevolutionThis is a segment-driven chatter show featuring Mike Pullano (host of the New York Rangers’ Blue Shirt Buds), Chris Ippolito (lead singer of Chapter Five) and ex-pro snowboarder Joe Maffei that appears on YouTube as a multi-screen videocast as well as an audio podcast. Their guest this segment – they frequently have interesting guests popping in – is Samantha Quintas of SModcast’s The Sam And Ming Show. And they’re talking – more or less on topic – about their favorite TV theme songs.

Hillbilly Nerd TalkHosted by Hank and Petra – no last names – who describe themselves as “educated hillbillies”, the Hillbilly Nerd Talk podcast hails from “deep in the hollows of rural Appalachia”. This is an amazing find from Tyson and features a charming married couple who chew the fat on a variety of subjects. This sample features them tossing around a list of the perils of Facebook from Men’s Health magazine.

Done and done. That’s Epi98 in a podshell. It’s not too late to record a special message for the Succotash Episode 100 – you can do it by calling into the Succotash Hotline at (818) 921-7212 or by sending us an MP3 or WAV file to marc@SuccotashShow.com. We continue to appreciate getting your reviews and rating on iTunes, your Thumbs Up on Stitcher, and your donations by clicking the Donate button at http://SuccotashShow.com.

Until next time, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:19:11nopodcast,james,matt,comedy,beer,revolution,pizza,marc,gourley,bonding,earwolf,superego,succotash,hershon,tomefoolery,wolfpopSuccotash Epi97: Podfestin' with Friends #1Wed, 22 Oct 2014 00:40:05 +0000At long last, here is Epi97 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. I put this installment together while on vacation in Hawaii — not the first time we've come to you from Paradise — but, just as usual these days, I did my recording from Studio F (in this case, a rented Fiat 500C), so the sound quality of my wraparound portions will sound remarkably the same as always.

Went a little bit different with the show this time out. This episode we’ve got not just some comedy podcast clips for you but also a few of the interviews that I did recently at the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival (which was about a month ago now…)

Among the many folks I got a chance to talk to while I was in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab and whose interviews I share this episode include…

Janet Varney from the JV Club podcast. Yes, I FINALLY got my old friend Janet to sit down and chat for a bit. I’ve known her since before she got out of college, when she and her fellow sketch performers (Cole Stratton, David Owen, and Gabriel Diani) were in a group called Totally False People and used to open for my improv group The Riffingtons in the San Francisco Bay Area. Needless to say, she and her compatriots have FAR outstripped my show business career on many fronts and I love it. She’s great and her podcast The JV Club is going great guns.

Christine Blackburn from the Story Worthy podcast. Christine’s always fun to talk to, plus she kept finding new people for me to interview while I was at the podcast festival, which was great – I made some new podcaster friends and found out about some great show I’d never heard of before which we’ll be featuring on future episodes of Succotash. We also talked about working together to try and get Story Worthy on the boards, live, somewhere in the Bay Area soon.

Matt Weinhold, co-host of the Monster Party podcast. Always great hanging out with Matt whenever I’m in LA and I was especially happy to have been asked to jump into the Monster Party with him and the guys. Before that happened, though, he dropped by the podfest after work so we chatted it up, then we wandered around poking our heads into the shows going on, then we gorged ourselves on late night eats at Jerry's Deli in the Valley.

In addition to the interviews, we play clips from all three of their shows, not to mention a trio of other podcasts, which were harvested by our ace Associate Producer Tyson Saner.

N0 TWEETSACK OR 10 MOST ACTIVE SEGMENTS THIS WEEK

Because I knew this was going to be a long show, there's no Tweetsack segment this week. And the Top 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts List is on hold because Stitcher apparently hasn't updated their stats on that list in the past month. Who do they think they are? Succotash? Of all the nerve.

Nonetheless, we do have our Burst O' Durst at the end of the show, featuring political comedian and cultural commentator Will Durst, this time talking about the spooky upcoming midterm elections.

CLIPS

Chillpak Hollywood HourA way longer-than-usual visit with Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, plucked from their somewaht recent "partycast" in Los Angeles, where they took time out to interview…me.

The New HollywoodTyson sent along a clip from a podcast I hadn’t heard before this show: The New Hollywood. I’m not sure this qualifies as a comedy podcast – the show’s homesite describes the show as “a podcast interview show about the greatest films from the 70's – by the people who made them.” - but there are sure some great funny stories in some of the episodes. This clip is from a few weeks ago when actor Stacy Keach and host Brian Flaherty discussed Keach’s career, and when he and a partner wrote what could have been a war epic for producer Roger Corman.

The JV ClubHost Janet Varney kicked this podcast off over 130 episodes ago, mostly talking talking one-on-one with female guest from the arts (although her "Boys of Summer" shows allow her to stretch the format a bit.) This clip features her guest, actress Noureen DeWolfe, whom she appeared with in the popular web/TV series reality show spoof Burning Love.

Bad ReceptionWe have a clip from a podcast that’s just getting started, called Bad Reception, with host Jordan Scherer. It’s only a few episodes in, and the show’s homesite says that Jordan talks to himself and guests about life, pop culture, and comedy. In the clip Tyson pulled, the host is talking his listeners about why they should give podcasting a try themselves.

Story WorthyFeaturing hosts Christine Blackburn and Hannes Phinney. In this clip from the recent "Trouble In My Pants" episode of Story Worthy, we share part of a story that starts out favorably but seems to very quickly head south in a story related by storytelling guest Iris Bahr.

Happy Sad ConfusedOur associate producer Tyson tossed us an episode from Happy Sad Confused with host Josh Horowitz. He talks to celebrities about "everything and anything", according to the show's homesite. I don’t know about that but he recently chatted up Justin Long about working with Kevin Smith, who directed him in the oddball film Tusk.

Monster PartyWe've featured clips from Monster Party before, with co-hosts James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, Larry Strothe, Matt Weinhold, and a different guest each episode. This particular episode, MAd Doctors, which dropped this week, features ME! It's funny in spite of that fact…

Just a closing note to let you know that I appreciate all of you who have been mentioning the show on Twitter and Facebook and especially everyone who has taken the time to rate and review us on iTunes and "Thumbs Upping" us on Stitcher Smart Radio.

And a reminder that, if you’re shopping on Amazon.com, visit us first at http://SuccotashShow.com and click on the Amazon banner at the top of the page. That will take you to the Amazon site and anything that you buy, they’ll send us a tiny cut of it.

If you want to help us offset the costs of production, you can also click on our Donate button at the Succotash site or you can even buy some merch in our Succotashery. So many ways to help pass the Succotash and so little time, really.

]]>01:32:41yesmonster,matt,club,dean,comedy,party,podcasts,story,hollywood,marc,phil,will,janet,pants,christine,durst,blackburn,weinhold,hendersons,haglund,worthy,varney,jv,chillpak,succotash,hershon,leirnessSuccotash Epi96: Documentin' with Robert Campos & Donna LoCiceroThu, 02 Oct 2014 06:53:17 +0000I'm your host Marc Hershon and this IS Epi 96 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. (If you missed it, there WAS an Epi 95.5 which I did from the road when I headed down to the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival - check out the blog entry just beneath this one!)

I was hoping to record this episode as I was sitting in the Squarespace Podcast Lab, surrounded by podcasters interviewing other podcasters. But the time got away from me – it seems there was always someone else to interview or to be interviewed by for THEIR show. I will be featuring my own interviews with other podcasters over the next bunch of shows but not on THIS episode.

This episode features my interview with Robert Campos and Donna LoCIcero, the movie makers behind 3 Still Standing, a documentary that looks at the San Francisco comedy scene back to the 1980s through the lives and careers of a trio of local comedians: Will Durst, Johnny Steele, and Larry “Bubbles” Brown.

I found one of the interesting things about Robert and Donna is that they’re not from a comedy background but are real, bona fide documentarians who have done hours of material for television. You'll hear about their fascinating background and how they cooked up the idea for the project. This is their first feature-length film and they’re coming at it as fans of comedy. I think you’ll enjoy our chat…

I made the drive to Los Angeles from San Francisco in time to catch the Chillpak Hollywood Hour live "partycast" from the Bottle Rock bar in downtown LA. I was a lively time but I haven't had a chance to snip a bit of that show for you yet. But thanks to hosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness for putting on the dog.

The 10 Most Active Shows On Sticher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

As mentioned before, this feature may be cut in the near future in order to save us time on the podcast UNLESS there are some vocal or social advocates who want to stand up for it. Where else can you get a run down of the ten shows that have moved up or down the list in the past week?Call the Succotash Hotline at (818) 921-7212 or email me at marc@SuccotashShow.com if you'd like to show your support for this segment.

Mike And Tom Eat SnacksIt’s been about a year but, at long last, Mike And Tom Eat Snacks, aka MATES, is back! Everyone, including themselves, thought that hosts Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanaugh, were dead. But they’re not. They’re alive and snacking. And they celebrated their returns with a snack as old as snacks themselves…the humble hard boiled egg.

We Have ConcernsI dropped a mention of the podcast We Have Concerns a couple of months ago in the This Week In Comedy Podcasts column on Splitsider.com. But we hadn’t yet played a clip. JeffCannata and Anthony Carboni have a lot of fun delving in the wonder and dread hidden inside seemingly innocuous things. F’rinstance, this clip is from their recent episode Algorithm is a Dancer.

Dom Irrera LIVE from the Laugh FactoryI can’t believe that comedian Dom Irrera is almost 100 epis into his podcast, Dom Irrera LIVE from the Laugh Factory, and we’ve never featured a clip from his show before. Thanks to Tyson Saner, our Associate Producer, we are now. He does his show, interviewing comedians and talking about Hollywood, right from Hollywood’s Laugh Factory comedy store. Our clip is from a recent episode where Dom is talking to comedian John Heffron.

Stick a fork in Epi96 because it’s done! We had clips. We had chat. We had pants.

Coming up next episode will be more clips and one or two of the miniviews I had with some of the podcasters at the 3rd Annual LA Podfest.

If you’d like to get in touch with me, shoot me an email at maarc@SuccotashShow.com. Or listen for the number for the Succotash Hotline when our friendly booth announcer Bill Heywatt says goodbye in a moment.

You can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, CWERadio.com – that’s Clutch And Wiggle Entertainment Radio, where we replay all the time – and sometimes SoundCloud – been having some upload woes there – and please Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter and, as always, thanks for passing the Succotash!

]]>01:26:28yes3,standing,marc,still,robert,donna,campos,succotash,hershon,lociceroSuccotash Epi95.5: Travelin' to the 3rd LA PodfestFri, 26 Sep 2014 19:06:47 +0000Time for another Succotash "halfisode", one of those short, off-the-cuff, podcast installments that I spew into my digital recorder while plying the "Kessel Run". (That's my nickname for the 5+ hour jaunt on Interstate 5 between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The occasion is the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival, taking place this Friday through Sunday, Sept. 26-28. Haven't missed one yet. I'm writing this accompanying blog on Friday morning, after successfully navigating my way to Big Smoggy.

This kept me going on the six hour drive yesterday…

I took a half-day off of work so that I could make the drive in plenty of time to not only make the Podfest but also to drop in on the Chillpak Hollywood Hour "partycast" that was going on at the Bottle Rock in downtown LA last night. Which I did, as evidenced by my photo of hosts Phil Leirness and Dean Hagland that appears below.

During this particular halfisode, I finally give out with some details on the upcoming format changes in store for future episodes of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. My idea - in an attempt to move to a more easily consumable format - is to split the show up a bit. By that, I mean that each episode will be either primarily comedy podcast clips or an interview. And you'll be able to tell which is which by the title, because the former will be under the banner of Succotash Clips, while the latter will be called Succotash Chats.

Make sense?

The reasons for making this move in "Season 2" of the show - these changes will transpire beginning with Epi101 - are several. One is that episodes are getting very long. Lately our shows have been coming in at between 90 and 120 minutes. So they're getting increasingly more difficult to produce and taking more and more time. Another reason is that I's like to make a bit more of a consistent product, by aiming for 30 minute shows for the Clips editions, and no more than an hour for the Chats versions.

Phil & Dean of the Chillpak Hollywood Hour

As I mention in this epi, no one ever says much about the show's format as it is but, if you either support or object to the planned changes, feel free to reach out and let me know. You can call the Succotash Hotline, at (818) 921-7212. Or email me at marc@SuccotashShow.com. Or just tweet your comments to @SuccotashShow.

Also during this episode, we had a surprise guest drop in via cell phone! Out of the blue, friend of the show Rick Overton, brilliant comedian and the host of podcasting's Overview, happened to call while I was recording. So I just left the call in.

BTW, the quality of the show is a bit sketchy. Recording in Studio F while it's moving is always a little difficult. I filtered a lot of the road noise out but it's still a less-than-optimum production. Still, it's only about 20 minutes long, so you can certainly muddle through that much. I did.

If you're going to be the LA Podfest this weekend, you can track me down in the Podcast Lab or you can also message or call me through the Succotash Hotline number (see above) - I'll have it on live this weekend rather than voicemail.

Thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>20:31nopodcast,dean,marc,phil,clips,rick,haglund,overton,chillpak,comed,succotash,hershon,leirness,halfisodeSuccotash Epi95: Interfacin' with The Amazing JohnathanSun, 21 Sep 2014 16:33:41 +0000Just four more shows after this one and we hit Epi100, the last show of the first season of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast.

Seasons in podcasting seem a little silly to me, so I figured after almost 3 years and 100 ‘sodes, we’ll make THAT the end of season one. (I’m still trying to figure out if I have it together enough to do a live show somewhere for the 100th episode. Don’t know. We’ll see…

I’ve also been talking with our Associate Producer Tyson Saner– or messaging him, more precisely, about a couple of format changes that Succotash is in for in the second season of the show. I’ll tell you more about that soon. Nothing major in terms of what you hear, just going to tighten up the struts on this rust heap a little bit and see if we can’t keep it flying a little longer.

We only have a few comedy podcast clips to share with you this episode because the main attraction is my interview with comic–magician The Amazing Johnathan. He recently announced his retirement from performing live on stage and we find out during the interview.

I had heard Johnathan on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast – a great interview, by the way. If you didn’t hear it, think about tracking it down over at WTFpod.com. But because I’ve known Johnathan for years, I figured it might be neat to get him on here to chat and we’d no doubt find some other things to talk about. Which we did…

He's had an interesting career, starting out trying to do stage magic in Michigan, then street magic in San Francisco, before finding his unique "punk magician" spin on an act that has always been more about the laughs than the magic. Johnathan talks about those early days on the street - competing for sidewalk space with the likes of Harry Anderson and A. Whitney Brown. We also find out how a bet he made with a friend ended up keeping off Late Night with David Letterman for years after he made his debut.

And once upon a time I was the head writer on a short-lived game show called Ruckus for Merv Griffin. Johnathan was the host and we talk about some of that craziness, too.

We talk at length about Ruckus, actually and one of the things we bring up - in fact, something I did in this particular segment Johnathan uses to kick off and close our chat - was a gag called The Ultimate Blindfold. I came on stage as a"stooge", pretending to be a member of the theater audience, which was where we pulled our contestants from for each episode. That bit lives in perpetuity on YouTube, so I figured I'd slug it in the blog here…

The 10 Most Active Shows on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Nowhere else in Podcastland are you likely to hear a list featuring the 10 most active shows on any list. But we have it for you here! These are the shows that moved up OR down the most in the past week on Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcast List. (Some weeks we get big, massive swings in the numbers. Some weeks, not so much. Mostly single digit moves this week with a couple of exceptions.)

As much as I kind of get a kick out of this feature, we may need to trim some fat if we move to a shorter show in a few episodes so this could be on the chopping block. Do YOU like the 10 Most Active? Enough to keep it in the show? Call into the Succotash Hotline – (818) 921-7212 – and let me know.

Other Stuff In This Episode

We have a fresh Burst O' Durst with our resident crankpot, comedian and social commentator Will Durst, who's talking about the new iPhone 6. This episode is sponsored by Henderson's Peer Sucker Pants. And we've got a few things to talk about in the Tweetsack.

Clips

Greg Proops’ Film ClubThis past week I reviewed Greg Proops’ OTHER podcast for the This Week In Comedy Podcastscolumn on Splitsider.com, then I shaved it off and put it up on Huffington Post, just for good measure. So I’m not talking about his The Smartest Man In The World podcast. This is his Greg Proops Film Club. It’s a once-a-month movie screening of something that Greg likes – and the most recent one film was The Man Who Would Be King, starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine at their most dashing but, in the segment we’re about to listen to, Proops goes off on a tangent about spending teenage nights at the local drive-in movie theater.

P.F.’s Tape RecorderWe recently got hit up to revisit the P.F.’s Tape Recorder podcast, hosted by P.F. Wilson and to check out a recent episode featuring the Sklar Brothers – very funny comedians and hosts of the Sklarboro Country and Sklarboro County podcasts. P.F. wanted us to pay particularly close attention to his It’s Facebook NOT Factbook part of that epi, so that's what we do.

The Geek GenerationI saw on the Independent Podcaster Association page on Facebook that The Geek Generation podcast hit its 200th episode. Congrats to host Rob Logan and his co-host Mike Volpe. These guys love talking about movies, TV shows, video games…pretty much anything their audience enjoys geeking out over. Our snippet is from their big Epi 200 where they get into…Oreos.

Hitting The Road

I'll be on the road later this week, heading to Los Angeles and the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. (This year, BTW, for the first time they're offering a "virtual ticket" to the PodFest - for $25, you get to watch their "livestream" of the entire event online.)

I'll kick off my Southland visit by dropping into the big "partycast" being thrown by Chillpak Hollywood Hour hosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness Thursday night. So I may toss a Succotash "halfisode" up online between now and Epi96.

Thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:25:13yespodcast,film,club,dean,comedy,geek,magic,greg,hollywood,marc,hour,phil,ruckus,amazing,clips,snippets,tyson,tape,proops,recorder,saner,johnathan,haglund,chillpak,succotash,hershon,leirness,pfs,gneerationSuccotash Epi94: Rememberin' RobinMon, 15 Sep 2014 06:50:31 +0000Welcome to Epi94 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is the podcast where we feature clips of other comedy podcasts to help you to try and sort through the, literally, thousands of comedy podcasts you could be listening to when you fancy a comedy podcast or two.

Since I’m always skimming the podwaves, listening to what’s out there (I also review podcasts as part of This Week in Comedy Podcasts for Splitsider.com and on the Huffington Post as well – I know a number of podcasts have taken time out to mention the tragic death of Robin Williams in the past month. Joan Rivers, too. But Robin in particular seemed to touch a nerve across the board with his passing. I spoke about it a bit last episode.

I knew Robin some, having grown up in the same area – Marin County – as well as going to the same high school and junior college just a few years behind him. And I had the opportunity to do improv with him on stage a number of times as well as just hangout with him from time to time. So I’ve had my say, really. (Although, if you’d like to see something I’ve written on it, I have a remembrance of Robin and his connection to Marin County that's up on the blog for Marin Magazinehere.)

Our associate producer Tyson Saner came up with a great idea and that is to give you a smattering of what some of the other podcasters have been saying about Robin. I said, “Go for it!” and he went out into Podcastland and clipped an even dozen different shows and that’s what our show this episode is going to be about. Tyson asked if I would relax our usual policy of playing only three to five minute long clips. I thought that was an appropriate request, given the nature of what we’re doing here. So some of these are pretty long. Hope you don’t mind (and I hope the hosts of the shows we’re playing these from don’t mind us taking a bit more of a liberty that usual…)

I know theres been a lot of about Robin's life – and his death – since his tragic suicide a month or so ago on August 11th. Maybe you’re tired of hearing about it. I can understand that, but he was a personal acquaintance of mine and a great friend to San Francisco comedy, not to mention a global icon. But if this sort of tribute is too heavy or not you cup of tea, I get it. Feel free to give this episode a pass if you want, but you’re going to miss some great words spoken about a comedian, actor, father, husband and friend who was truly beloved.

Also In This Episode

We still have our usual roundup of the stuff we like doing, like our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian & social lampooner Will Durst (It's actually a double dose o' Durst this episode!), a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, our Tweetsack segment, and an extra big clip mention/clip/message from the Chillpak Hollywood Hour with Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness. Plus our exclusive feature that we like to call…

The 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

We're not satisfied just to look at the top 10 shows on the list of Top 100 comedy podcasts over at Stitcher - mostly because those rarely change. Instead, we like checking out the shows that are moving the most up OR down the charts. Here's how they looked this past week…

This past week on Splitsider.com, as part of This Week In Comedy Podcasts, I reviewed The Louie Anderson Podcast Epi5, "Robin Williams: A Friend and Legend Remembered", which was chock full of comedians' remembrances of Robin. That same review appears on the Huffington Post.

World Premiere of 3 Still Standing

The documentary film that I've been mentioning on Succotash, entitled 3 Still Standing, is about to make its debut in the fairly prestigious Mill Valley Film Festival! I did a bit of bheind the scenes work, some consulting and even some on camera stuff for this movie, which take a look at the San Francisco comedy scene, from the early 1980s through present day. It does by examining the lives and careers of a trio of working comedians: Our own Will Durst, past guest Larry "Bubbles" Brown, and Johnny Steele.

The movie's premiere is set for Saturday, October 4th, 5 PM, at the Sequoia Theater in downtown Mill Valley, California. Then, at 8 PM, just down the street at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre, I will be hosting the 3 Still Standing Live On Stage comedy show with the three comics, the film's directors and producers, and more. If you're interested in tickets, hop on over to the film festival's online box office at http://MVFF.com

The Clips

The Christopher Titus PodcastWe start the clips off with a slice from the top of The Christopher Titus Podcast, the section Chris Titus calls “The Armageddon Update”. This was cut just two days after Robin moved along, and you can hear the emotion in Chris’ voice as he talks about his personal hero.

The Evil Teddy Bear PodcastIn the clips we have for this episode about Robin, there's only this one in which we hear from a woman. The host of The Evil Teddy Bear Podcast, Korey Epps, did his own Robin tribute and one of the people who spoke was actress Stephanie Erb. (We get a lot of Twitter love and support for our show from Korey, so thanks as always for passing the Succotash!)

The Nick Di Paolo PodcastI like that we’re getting a chance to hear from some podcasts we’ve not had a chance to clip so far in the two and a half years that Succotash has been plying the podwaves. The Nick Di Paolo Podcast is one of those. Nick Di Paolo a great comic, a very real guy, and his Epi42 was entitled R.I.P. Robin Williams.

About Last NightNick Di Paolo’s not much of a Mrs. Doubtfire fan but someone who is? Adam Ray, co-host of the About Last Night podcast with Brad Williams. (BTW, I just met Brad for the first time a couple of weeks ago, at the first comedy show that was done after Robin’s death at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley. He's San Francisco-bound to take over morning drive duties on KITS 105.5 FM. Good luck, Brad!)

The Smartest Man In The WorldHere are some wonderful remembrances from Greg Proops, host of The Smartest Man In The World podcast. I know Greg very well from being in an improv group with him in San Francisco before he got onto Whose Line Is It Anyway. And we’ve both done stage work with Robin, separately and together. This was recorded while Greg was over at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Nerd PokerWe have another tribute from some more of Robin's hometown boys. This was at the end of an episode of Nerd Poker with Brian Posehn & Friends. In this case, Brian Posehn, Blaine Capatch and Ken Daly, along with guest Dave Anthony, talk about their memories of Robin. Everyone chatting here except Ken really got their comedy chops in San Francisco and so crossed paths with Robin a number of times.

The Chong & Chong ShowOne of the clips Tyson grabbed is from a podcast by a comedian who’s been in the game longer than Robin by more than half a decade. Tommy Chong, along with his son Paris Chong, hosts The Chong & Chong Show. And we have Tommy giving his perspective on Robin.

This Week with Larry MillerLarry Miller, host of This Week with Larry Miller, prefaced his thoughts about Robin by talking about Lauren Bacall. Larry has got to be one of the classiest guys in comedy and he had a narrow brush with death himself a couple of years ago when he took a fall and smacked his head pretty badly. Here’s his take on Robin…

Stuck In The 80sHere’s a clip from a show we’ve never featured before – Stuck In the 80’s. It’s all 80‘s stuff all the time – movie, TV, music, pop culture – and host Steve Spears and his rotating pool of co-hosts dive into the “Reagan Era” with gusto. Robin Williams is a personality who transcended 40 years of show business and our culture and the 80’s was a big chunk in the middle of that.

HarmontownDan Harmon, the creator of TV’s Community as well as Adult Swim’s Morty & Jack, is the mayor of Harmontown, a live podcast, aided by his Comptroller Jeff Davis. Harmon and Jeff had a few things to say about Robin recently.

The Todd Glass ShowHere’s some personal memories of running into Robin by Todd Glass on his The Todd Glass Show podcast, along with his guests Ian Karmel and Rob Gleeson.

Miller TimeThe last Robin clip we have this episode is from Dennis Miller, who has been doing Miller Time, a daily radio show/podcast, for years now. As a major comedy fixture and trained observer of pop culture and society at large, his is a particularly moving reminiscence of Robin.

Thanks to all the hosts and guest of the podcasts we clipped this episode to make this special Rememberin' Robin episode happen. Our next episode we'll be back with an interview with The Amazing Johnathan, as well as clips from more comedy podcasts from around the internet!

Until, then, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:49:57yespodcast,dan,miller,nick,davis,comedy,poker,christopher,williams,ray,hollywood,jeff,brian,larry,marc,adam,tommy,chong,robin,todd,brad,titus,glass,di,dennis,paolo,nerd,clip,posehn,epps,korey,harmon,chillpak,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi93: Workin' It with W. Kamau BellMon, 01 Sep 2014 22:12:07 +0000Yes, it’s me, your old – or, perhaps, new – friend, Marc Hershon and I'm your concierge for Epi93 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. First off, let me apologize for the delay in bringing you this episode of the podcast.

I have been swamped with both my regular job, which is a full-time, in-the-office, meeting-with-clients, boss-to-answer-to kind of thing, and I have also been doing some writing in my off hours, which is more fun but less profitable. (Several articles coming out for Marin Magazine, the first one in the September issue!) And I’m helping a buddy work on a screenplay long distance, which involves a lot of emails, phone calls and pecking away on a file we keep sending back and forth to each other.

Back to Succotash. Normally we feature a generous helping of clips from comedy podcasts from around the internet. I’m still sort of coming out of “recovery mode” from the tragic suicide of Robin Williams, so the next couple of episodes are going to be a little different than the usual fare.

Although SOME of the usual fare will be in here, too. I do have several clips that have been harvested by our associate producer Tyson Saner. And we’ve got a double dose o’ Durst with TWO Bursts O’ Durst with comedian/social commentator Will Durst, the 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcast List, and a brand new Henderson’s Pants commercial.

I’m going to talk a little bit about Robin in this episode mainly because, in my interview with this epi’s special guest, W. Kamau Bell, he and I talk about it toward the end of our time together. I interviewed Kamau a couple of weeks ago and we had only gotten the news a few days earlier so we kind of had to talk about it.

Kamau has recently moved back to the Bay Area after being in New York to work on his Totally Biased TV show for FX and, fatally, for FXX. We chat about how he got that amazing opportunity via Chris Rock, as well as what some of his future plans may be now that the show is done. (Incidentally, if you’re in the Bay Area, particularly Marin County, Kamau is going to be doing his latest one man show, Oh, Everything, at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre on September 11th. Yep, 9/11. 8 PM. He's got a bunch of other dates and locations as well, including San Francisco, Sacramento and more. Click on his show title to take you to the show site where you can get tickets and more information.)

SpamBUSTERS!

I had cast Kamau in the pilot episode for a web series called SpamBUSTERS! that ended up not happening, along with Dana Eagle and Shane Elliott. Kamau and I discuss the project during our interview but here, for the first time, YOU get to see the rough cut of this "lost" pilot episode.

Personal Reflection

I am planning a special Robin tribute episode, which is likely to be entirely clip-based. Tyson is working hard to round up as many clips as he can find where the podcasters mention and reflect on Robin and who he way, as well as what he meant and brought to people. Related to that, I was texting with our friend, Phil Leirness, co-host of the Chillpak Hollywood Hour, just two days after it happened and he asked me how I was feeling. I told him “Stunned.” He responded on their show this week much as he did to me in text form and I have included that response in this episode.

I first saw Robin perform in a little club in Sausalito, just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, in 1978. He was a few years ahead of me at the same high school and at the same junior college before he headed off to Julliard. But I never crossed paths with him then. But after I saw him perform the first time, I started hanging out in the comedy scene in San Francisco in the late 70’s and early 80’s and we’d see each every so often. We occasionally even ended up sharing a stage and doing improv together from time to time and he was a fairly regular fixture in my comedy life during the past 30 years.

When he was hanging out back in Marin County again after his CBS TV show got cancelled, he was down. Depressed, I guess. But not dour or morose. At the most, you might suspect he’d start drinking again. Or using coke or some other drugs that he used to be into. But no one that I know that knew him figured on him ending it all.

So “stunned”, at least for me, was a viable reaction to carry me through the first week and a half without him being around. Then grief starts to creep in, and sadness, and that horrible, horrible knowledge that I’ll never see him hanging around the scene any more. He’ll never be a surprise who you didn’t even know was in town but somehow found out we were doing improv at some shithole bar somewhere and there he was, bounding up on stage out of the darkness and already in character to help move the scene ahead.

But enough of that for now.

We deal, as we do, when one of our own has gotten lost and wanders away. And we hope that others around us will take it as a cue to perhaps say something if they can shake the grip of that demon they’re wrestling with long enough to ask for some help.

The 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

The numbers in the Top 100 Comedy Podcast list on Stitcher have settled down a bit from my last report, but it seems like the Top 10 is finally getting pierced and it’s good to see some action at the top.

Since we’re not playing a ton of clips this episode, if you’re looking to sample some new meat, hop over to http://Stitcher.com, dip into the Comedy Top 100 list and find something new to put in your ears.

Reviews

This past week I reviewed Mohr Stories with Jay Mohr and his guest Adam Ferrara for both Splitsider.com and also Huffington Post. I got a nice thank you tweet from Adam for the review. Never expect those sorts of things when I put something out there, but it’s nice when it happens. As part of those reviews, I also listened to Men In Blazers welcome back the Premier League, and We Have Concerns: Immortality Transfusion

Clips

The Funny Looking PodcastWe hop across the Pond for this one, hosted by Gav and Pete. I don’t know a whole lot about the guys behind Funny Looking but, from their homesite I took the following: “Funny Looking is a podcast recorded by two men with some terrible audio equipment. Our aim is to seek out the funny in this slowly decaying world. We all need a laugh and hopefully Funny Looking can guide you to something worth your time. At the very least, our podcast should be able to brighten up the commute to work when you are sandwiched between snogging teenagers and smelly sweaty businessmen.” In this clip, from their Epi14, Gav and Pete talk to Teresa Coyne and Mark Silcox, who were involved in the Machynlleth Comedy Festival.

Getting GeekyPart of the Great American Broadcast Network, or GABnet, comes a podcast or internet radio show called Getting Geeky with Miranda Janell. Her website says: “She's smart. She's wired in to today's social media. She knows and loves science and technology. She makes all of it easy to understand and more than that, makes it fun. Then there's movies and TV, where she is very opinionated and yes she can get passionate about politics too. All this adds up to make her the snarky geek queen of GABNet.” Our associate producer Tyson Saner found her and sliced off a hunk just for you…

Angry Beards PodcastWe have a standing offer on this show where we offer you the chance to tell us about YOUR favorite comedy podcasts that we maybe haven’t had a chance to cover and play a clip from yet. We recently got a tweet from the Angry Beards Podcast suggesting we pay attention to The Dollop, with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds. But come on -- if you tell us your show is called Angry Beards, we have GOT to check that shit out. Here are Alex and Anthony, the owners, one supposes, of the aforementioned angry beards. Not a whole lot of info about Alex and Anthony. What there was Tyson managed to shake out of their podcast app: “Two angry bearded men. Discussing life in a small town and providing useful information along the way.”

The DollopThe fact is we actually featured a clip from the very first episode of The Dollop, when Dave Anthony was flying solo and trying something new when Greg Behrendt stepped off the grid for a bit and there were no new Walking The Room episodes going on. What's changed is that Dave has been joined on The Dollop by Gareth Reynolds. Tyson clipped this from Epi18, where they’re discussing famous French serial imposter Frederic Pierre Bourdin, aka "The Chameleon".

Final Word

This epi clocks in at an hour and forty-five minutes. Some people think these Succotash episodes are getting too long. I prefer to think of us as the podcast that keeps giving.

You can remember to give, too, by visiting our Succotash site and either using our Amazon banner every time you want to go shopping in the world’s largest everything store, OR clicking on our Donate button and pitching us some pennines that way, OR click on through from our homesite to our Succotashery to buy some merch. Easy peasy, Succotash squeezy.

Now get out there and pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:45:40yespodcast,the,funny,comedy,podcasts,williams,w,dave,marc,getting,hour,phil,bell,robin,anthony,kamau,clips,looking,tyson,angry,saner,beards,geeky,chillpak,succotash,hershon,leirness,dollopSuccotash Epi92: Talkin' with Team SpeechlessSun, 10 Aug 2014 23:34:50 +0000This show is a veritable pastiche of comedy podcasts from all over the interwebs as, each week, my self and our esteemed associate producer, Tyson Saner, get out there and harvest clips from shows both far AND wide.

Sometimes comedy podcasters themselves even send along clips from their shows – which they are always welcome to do – after all, who knows their shows better than they themselves?

In this show, Epi92, we have got not only a solid handful or so of clips but also an interview with three guys who are behind a show some Succotashians will have heard me mention before. The show — Speechless – is a live comedy show with a whole new format that’s been running San Francisco for the past year and a half. (Full disclosure: I’ve been a part of the behind-the-scenes action.) It’s beginning to get some real notice and it’s also starting to get out beyond the Bay Area. In fact, coming up on August 25th, Speechless will make its debut in New York.

Very exciting stuff, and later on in the show I’ll have my interview with Sammy Wegent (who was our guest way back in Epi35, talking about his web series Everybody's A Comedian) and producers Scott Lifton and Anthony Veneziale.

The Usual Stuff

On tap this episode we have TWO Burst O' Durst segments with political/cultural comedian Will Durst, a classic Henderson's Pants commercial, and our Tweetsack segment.

They're Back (Almost…)

One of the things we're playing for you in this epi is a teaser announcement from our friends at the Superego podcast. They will be back with long-awaited season 4 in September and, as part of the announcement, it seems that Paul F. Tompkins - who was a frequent guest with Superego in the past - is now a regular cast member.

The Top 10 Most Active Show in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Normally when I look at the Top 100 Comedy Podcasts on Stitcher, I don’t even glance at the top ten any more because it never seems to change. But this past week, it looks like some shifting has been going on – there’s even a show up there I’ve never heard of! And normally the moves are pretty meek – get a load of the swing numbers this week:

There was a LOT of action in that Top 100 list this week – those were just the top movers. Hop over to http://Stitcher.com and you can check it out yourself.

The Clips

Here are the comedy podcasts that we're featuring in this episode. To visit each show's homesite, simply click on the title to the show listed below.

Attaboy ClarenceOkay, so this podcast that is not a comedy podcast per se. The host is not a comedian and the subject matter, although some it may venture into the comedy area, is also not about comedy. Nonetheless, the Attaboy Clarence podcast IS a funny offering, as served up by the host, Adam Roche. The focus is classic movies and old time radio shows – which, for my money, is the closest thing there has ever been, historically speaking, to podcasts. This clip is actually the opening to the show from recent episode 17, harvested by our AP, Tyson Saner, and recommended to us by both @Good_Podcasts and Megan M aka @PodcastWhore.

The Snooki Podcast OR The Naturally Nicole PodcastI was not a fan or even a viewer of The Jersey Shore when it was taking TV by storm. Not a fan of reality TV at all, actually. (Mostly because I write for TV and why would I be rooting for content that gives me LESS of a chance of writing than I already fight against?) Anyway, Jersey Shore. Not a fan. Not really sure who Snooki is. Nor is she, apparently. She has a podcast now – so you KNOW podcasting is beginning to hit the mainstream – and even she can’t decide to call it The Snooki Podcast or The Naturally Nicole Podcast, because Nicole Polizzi is her real name.

Grumpy Young MenTommy and Justin are a couple of Canadian lads who host the Grumpy Young Men podcast. And they grouse about everyday topics like movies, technology, business, and life in general. Like most of the podcasts featuring guys sitting around and chatting about stuff, they’re about as well informed as anyone else who gets their news from Twitter, Google, and web chatter in general.

Broken FilterGot a request via the Twitter to check out a podcast called Broken Filter, hosted by Rockstar Joe and Jonesy. I get the feeling after checking out their site that they frequently have guests, although I clipped a chunk out of a recent show that featured just the two hosts together. (They actually do a “livecast” every Tuesday night at 8 PM EDT from Port Chester, New York, via video on ZenTV.tv, then audio podcast it later.) The clip we have features one of their usual feature, Random Thoughts.

WANHTPY (We Are Not Here To Please You)If you’re new to Podcastland you may not know that podcasting is truly an international phenomenon. And here on Succotash, we regularly features shows from all over the place, including the US, Canada, Britain, and Australia. I think THIS is the first time that we’ve gotten a slice from a show in Finland, all thanks to the hosts – Rafael and Arttu – suggesting that we give their show a listen. Our man Tyson grabbed a chunk from W-A-N-H-T-P-Y, that’s how it’s listed on iTunes. It stands for We Are Not Here To Please You and that’s a tough call which of those you’re even going to remember. Rafael is German. Arttu is Finnish. And their website says they decided to record a podcast “just for the hell of it.” Huh. I think that’s everybody’s story, really. But these guys do it in Finland, so that’s something different. Their guest this episode is J. Scott Peter, who has something to do with the video game biz.

That's it for Epi92. Feel free to help us out in defraying the costs behind doing this podcast. There are THREE different ways right on the Succotash homesite itself that you can use: The Amazon banner at the top of the page, the Donate button on the right-hand side of the page. Or the Succotashery - where our merch lives - also on the right-hand side. Little help?

Please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:43:03yescomedy,podcasts,scott,marc,anthony,clips,sammy,succotash,hershon,speechless,wegent,lifton,vanazialeSuccotash Epi91: Revelin' with Nick RevellSun, 27 Jul 2014 06:00:41 +0000Hello! Yes, this is the episode blog for Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. And we're up to Epi91, to be exact.

Not familiar? What we mostly do is play clips from comedy podcasts from all over the internet. Some we pick – and by “we” I mean myself and our Associate Producer Tyson Saner. Others get submitted by the comedy podcasters themselves. Still others are suggested by listeners who want to make sure their favorite podcasts are being shared.

For this show, we’ve got a half-dozen clips lined up and ready to roll. PLUS we have a special guest as well! Nick Revell, one of the creators and hosts of No Pressure To Be Funny, a very funny panel show out of England which we happen to be a big fan of here at Succotash.

Nick is a standup comedian and a writer. While NPTBF is on summer hiatus right now, he is doing a one-man show at the Ediburgh Fringe Festival, which we are hoping to be able to feature some audio clips from in the very near future. Like the best podcasters, he's witty, clever, and smart, so you'll want to listen on our chat this episode.

Before I forget to mention it, this last week I reviewed the Judge John Hodgman podcast for both This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com and it's also up on my blog in the comedy section of the Huffington Post. (Click on the links and you should feel free to read, share, Like, Tweet and comment as you wish…)

Here's who we're clipping on the podcast this week (more details and links to the shows follow below): Chillpak Hollywood Hour, The X-Files Files, The 10-ish Minutes Show, Feliz Navipod, and Walking The Room.

In addition we have our Burst O' Durst segment, featuring political comedian Will Durst who, this week, take some potshots an the largely inaction GOP slugabout in the Senate and the House. There's also a classic Henderson's Pants commercial, our Tweetsack segment and my usual wry commentary.

The Ten Most Active Show In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

As heard only on Succotash, this feature mentions which podcasts showed the most movement, either up OR down Stitcher's list of most listened-to comedy podcasts.

ATMOVED34 Bertcast’s Podcast +838 The Smartest Man in The World -440 SModcast >> Edumacation +1647 This Week in Blackness Radio -664 The Champs with Neal Brennan & Moshe Kasher -1574 Pointless with Kevin Perreira -786 Nobody Likes Onions +687 DVDASA with David Choe and Asa Akira -588 New York City Crime Report +2091 The Mike Betancourt Show +8

And Now…The Clips

Chillpack Hollywood HourOur friends Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness recently made the jump from independent to network status when they joined up with Blogtalk Radio to carry the Chillpak Hollywood Hour. Thank heavens that, even while donning their network "big boy pants", they still give this little ol' podcast a cheery shoutout. (Make me feel kinda bad that I took a shot at one of their faithful listeners who goes by the handle "Agent Summer" because he took their tip, listened to Succotash, didn't much care for what he heard and gave us a two-star rating and a review on iTunes that groused about how obscene the show is. Even though we mark it as being "Explicit". And just because some of the clips we play can sometimes get a little…salty… contentwise.)

The X-Files FilesAs a big fan of TV's The X-Files, I've been enjoying this new entry into Podcastland by Kumail Nanjiani. He, along with a guest, spend each episode deconstructing one (or two) episodes of the hit TV show.I beleive I can rightfully take credit for lighting the fuse that got the latest edition together: I had suggested that Kumail ping the aforementioned Dean Haglund and line him up to guest when it came time to talk about "E.B.E", the X-Files episode that introduces The Lone Gunmen, a trio of conspiracy nutballs that featured Dean as Langley, the long-haired, horn-rimmed rocker of the group. Particularly if you're an X-Phile, there is some great inside dope in this episode.

The 10-ish Minutes ShowHosted by MJ Hughes, Rob, and Sarah, their specialty is being a platform for new comedy writers to get their stuff produced. Sounds like they’re out of England and their show is a bit along the lines of another show from Britain: the 4 AM Cab podcast in the fact that they invite writers to contribute. Which I think is great – the more the merrier, actually. (My bad, incidentally – I told Michael Hughes that I’d use their clip back in Epi89 and I lost the download…)

Feliz NavipodWish it could be Christmas every day? Willing to settle for once a week? Every week I become aware of more and more pdocasts that demonstrate we are in the midst of micro-targeting our audiences in Podcastland. Our Associate Producer nabbed this clip from Feliz Navipod, with host Tony Thaxton. The show, year-round, is in the spirit of those old Christmas specials on TV, like Andy Williams used to do. In Epi24, Tony’s guests were Carol Spinney – the voice of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch from “Sesame Street”, and Dave LaMattina.

Walking The RoomTyson brings us a clip from Walking The Room, a show I really like but with a pair of hosts — Greg Behrendt and Dave Anthony — who won’t really give me the of time of day the couple of times our paths have crossed. (I even got all dressed up one night, with pants and everything, to go chat with them down at the Punchline in San Francisco. It was all set up in advance. And they blew me off. But I still like the show!

There it is, basically. If you like what we do here, I encourage you to rate and review Succotash on iTunes, Like us on Facebook, Thumbs Up us on Stitcher, "Heart" us on SoundCloud and click our Donate button on the http://SuccotashShow.com website.

Until next time, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:20:53yesfunny,nick,comedy,to,podcasts,no,humor,marc,be,pressure,revell,pdocast,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi90: Chitterin' with Jordan BradySun, 06 Jul 2014 16:58:33 +0000Welcome to Epi90 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, the show that tracks down clips of comedy podcasts from all over the web and sweeps them into a neat pile every week or so for you to scoop up with your dustpan-like ears and enjoy. You, dear reader, must also like to sweep a little bit into your eyes, since you're visiting the show blog.

We’ve got a jammed packed episode: A half a dozen podcast clips. TWO of our Burst O’ Durst segments with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, who talks to us about the Washington Redskins debacle and how to properly observe the 4th of July. A brand new Henderson’s Pants commercial for their "Camo CutOffs". Not to mention the TweetSack.

But we also have a special guest for Epi90, making his return to the Succotash microphones: Jordan Brady, who was here last time to talk about his documentary called I Am Comic.

Now he has his followup movie out – which he was musing about doing the last time we chatted with him – and it’s called I Am ROAD Comic. It’s a funny documentary and neat little study of comedy and comics on the road. I’m very excited to have Jordan back on the show and he was very kind to give me a lot of time in our Skype chat which you will hear in this episode. The interview is pretty long, so the show is front-loaded with the clips and other business and then we’ll spent the rest of the episode with Jordan.

Since he last joined us, he’s also become a podcaster, hosting Respect The Process. It's a show about the world of commercial film production and we talk about that in our interview as well.

(BTW, the title for this epi's blog came from a lip slip I made while talking to Jordan - a cross between chatting and Twitter, which was inadvertently coined to describe carrying on a prolonged exchange with someone via Twitter. Too bad Rich Hall doesn't write Sniglets books any more!)

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE SHOWS ON STITCHER'S TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

I'm not sure if anyone really appreciates or enjoys this feature but I do! It keeps me looking at the top-ranked shows on Stitcher and that helps me to stay in touch with what's going on out there in PodcastLand. So a shout-out to Ed Wallick from the Don't Quit Your Daycast podcast who gave me the idea for this list in the first place!

One thing I always appreciate is the kind mention of this show on the Chillpak Hollywood Hour by hosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness pretty much every episode. An offshoot of that is my appreciation of Dean's yodel of our show's name, which has begun to really develop over time, as can be heard over the theme song for this installment and again at the tail end of the show.

CLIPS

Thanks, as always, to our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, who provided a number of the clips heard this episode!

The Geek GenerationThis clip - from a podcast we’ve featured before – was provided by the main man behind the show, Rob Logan. He says, “We've started playing a game on The Geek Generation called Smash-Up, which combines two categories or concepts of things together, creating some hilarious results for things you've probably never heard of. Recently, our Smash-Up category was to combine Godzilla with any other movie, and in this clip myself and my co-host Mikey read the responses sent in from our super-creative fans.”

Word to the wise: Comedy podcasters are welcome to submit 3-5 minute MP3 or WAV clips from their shows to clips@SuccotashShow.com, and we'll feature them on the show!

Proudly ResentsFriend-of-Succotash and past special guest Adam Spiegelman recently posted a "Succotash Shoutout" version of his show Proudly Resents. He had some bits, pieces, and tail ends of interview from his podcast so he put them together, Succotash-fashion, to serve to his listeners. Thanks, Adam! We're featuring part of that stew: A snippet of a conversation Adam had with filmmaker Jeremy Sklar.

Revelstoke Jim’s Canadian ContentTyson harvested this next clip and, he couldn’t have known this, but I’ve been aware of Revelstoke Jim since the early aughts. It was around the year 2000 or 2001 that I began to make a series of guest appearances on But Seriously, an early webcast – there was an attempt by some broadcast-oriented companies to livecast shows – hosted by comedian Brian Malow. His show was part of a rudimentary network of shows and the one that was on right after his was hosted by none other than Revelstoke Jim. So I would catch snippets of his show. Here, some decade and some years later, is yet another snippet, live and direct from Revelstoke, British Columbia.

Comedy And Everything ElseWe had comedian Fred Stoller on Succotash way back in Epi15 when we were one of the first podcasts that he’s been a guest on. Since then, Fred’s become a favorite guest of a lot of shows. (So many, in fact, that I’m surprised he hasn’t started one of his own, because he’d be a great host, I think.) He was on a recent episode of Comedy & Everything Else, hosted by comedian Jimmy Dore and Stefanie Zamorano, who co-host a solid, funny show (in league with Dore's own The Jimmy Dore Show.)

Green Up!The world of pop culture-based comedy podcasts is both deep and wide, which means there are a lot of them. Tyson found us this one, which I hadn’t heard of before, hosted by Roy, Phillip, and Ryan. (Or, as they refer to themselves on their show blog, “three fatties”.) Their focus is on video games – console and PC, as well as TV, movies, and podcasts. (Hmm. Wonder if they ever mention SuccotashI?) In this clip, they’re musing about getting a-whuppin’ as a kind of celebration of Father’s day.

There's your Epi90 in a bloggy nutshell. Enjoy! And don't say I never gave you anything…

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:47:51yesand,jim,comedy,comic,podcasts,humor,geek,road,marc,am,brady,i,else,everything,generation,jordan,clips,tyson,durst,saner,proudly,revelstoke,chillpak,succotash,hershon,resents,tweetsack,greenupSuccotash Epi89: Hobnobbin' With Hob The TrollThu, 26 Jun 2014 13:49:23 +0000Hello, chum! It is I, Marc Hershon, purveyor of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast and your ears are hearing Epi 89! (If you’re a subscriber to us via ConnectPal, you’re hearing this two days before anyone else!)

If you found Succotash through iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, our Facebook page or any other means, would you do us a favor? Go back and rate us if you can. Five stars on iTunes and a short review. A "thumbs up" on Stitcher. A heart on SoundCloud. Whatever you have access to, it costs you nothing and makes a world of difference to us. Of course, if you want to contribute more substantially, I invite you to click the Donate button on our http://SuccotashShow.com homesite.

Epi89 features my audio visit with podcaster, raconteur, singer, Ren Faire hanger-on, and bridge hanger-outer Hob The Troll. Although there are millions of trolls on the internet, Hob is the only actual troll-troll that I know of, and how luck are we that he hosts a regular Hobcast? He's had a number of wonderful guest on his show, some in character, some that just ARE characters, including Hal Lublin from The Thrilling Adventure Hour, who has been on our show a couple of times now.

SUCCOTASH ZIPPER PULLS ARE HERE!

Our newest tchotchke, the Succotash Zipper Pull, is here! This nifty thingy features a wee Succotash button clamped onto a little hook that affixes to pretty much any zipper you may have around on your jacket, duffel bag or gimp suit. If you're like one for FREE, you just need to email your snail mail address to zipper@SuccotashShow.com and we'll mail one out to you.

DOUBLE DOSE O' DURST

Once again, we've got two of our Burst O' Durst segments from cultural commentating comedian Will Durst this episode, as well as a "classic" Henderson's Pants commercial and a nifty set of clips – most of which were culled this week byour Associate Producer Tyson Saner.

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE SHOWS ON THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

The idea to focus on the 10 most ACTIVE shows on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List (rather than the Top 10 shows, which rarely ever change…) originally came to us from Ed Wallick, host of the Don't Quit Your Daycastpodcast. Just wanted to mention that because Ed let us know that he just bought some new podcasting equipment and used our Amazon banner at the top of the SuccotashShow.com website to get to that fabulous online everything store. You can, too, and Amazon will then kick us back a few quatloos to help us keep this operation going.

Here's this week's 10 Most Active…

ATMOVED

25 How Did this Get Made? -729 SModcast >> Jay & Silent Bob Get Old +1531 Bertcast’s Podcast +643 This Week In Blackness Radio +551 Sklarbro Country +755 The Brian Callen Show +1058 What About Pod? -2061 The Champs w/Neal Brennan & Moshe Kasher -1065 The Cracked Podcast -3779 Harmontown -13

EXTRA PLUG

An Indiegogo campaign went up this week that's near and dear to the hearts of those privy to the San Francisco comedy scene. The Comedy Club focuses on Cobb's Comedy Club, from its inception in the Marina District through it's relocation and subsequent fire in the Cannery to its present location downtown. The comedians who have crossed the Cobb's stage range from the legendary to the obscure, and it's a story that's been lovingly told by filmmaker David Schendel. The film's almost all done except for final processing bits n' pieces. Check out the trailer and maybe even get your name in the credits at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-comedy-club.

THE CLIPS

Chillpak Hollywood HourWe usually feature a snippet from this show each week that has Chillpak Hollywood hosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness mentioned Succotash. But the boys have been busy and that means pre-recorded shows with guests and not much mention of us. (Although they did tag us at the very end of the most recent show - thanks, guys!) So I figured this was a good opportunity to play a straight-up clip of this excellent show. It's a story of Dean's early days in Hollywood, and who he found when he went star-spotting at the once-popular Sky Bar.

The Wolf DenThis show from the Earwolf Network, subtitled “The Business and Future of Podcasting”, is hosted by the network's co-founder Jeff Ulrich. It was just announced this past week that Mr. Ulrich is stepping down as CEO of Earwolf and also The Midroll, which is his podcast advertising agency. In an open letter to the Internet, he let everyone know that he’s taking a bit of a hiatus from showbiz, spending time with his family and figuring out his next steps in life. (I'm assuming The Wolf Den is either going away or maybe transitioning to a new host…) We feature a slice of Jeff’s chat with guest and fellow podcasting magnate Chris Hardwick from The Nerdist Network.

The Smartest Man In The WorldI just did a review of Greg Proops’ The Smartest Man in the World for Splitsider and Huffington Post. And I realized it’s been a while since I clipped that show, which is a great example of – as I say in the review – a Master of the Spew. Someone who can keep up a steady stream of entertaining solo monologue. There are podcasters like Bill Burr and Larry Miller and Marc Maron who are certainly Spew Masters but Greg is one of the only guys who really only does it in front of a live audience as opposed to in a studio or an apartment or whatever. He was recently over in Wales, at the literary Hay Festival in the town of Hay and I pulled a slice of him getting into a riff around one of Wales’ favorite sons…

Dining with Doug & KarenDoug Benson is, perhaps, most famous for his Doug Loves Movies podcast but he’s funny at so much else, including his Benson Interruptions and his Getting Doug With High YouTube show. With all that pot smoking that DB does though, comes a powerful need to feed. I’m not sure if that was the inspiration for Dining with Doug and Karen, featuring Mr. Benson and Karen Anderson but, high or not, you'll enjoy them along with guest Greg Behrendt as they all eat “Belly Bombz Asian fusion wings".

Norm MacDonald LiveThere have only been about 15 episodes of Norm MacDonald Live, with comedian Norm MacDonald and co-host Adam Eget, and it’s actually a VIDEOcast from The Video Podcast Network, which is probably why it wasn’t exactly on my radar until now. (The 'sodes are later released as audiocasts via iTunes.) We're featuring a clip from a recent outing in which Norm was lucky enough to corral comic great Carl Reiner on the show.

TANcastThe TANcast is a show I’ve seen tweets about but never listened to but then was inspired to when I saw some fun Photoshoppery by Tim Babb, one of the three hosts. He’s also a standup comedian, whereas his two buddies, Adam and Noah — T, A & N. TAN. TANcast, get it? — are not comics. But they were all roommates at one time and now, even though they are separated by distance, technology brings them together every week. This clip is from one of their regular features, TANLaughs, in which they read jokes sent in by their listeners. Sometimes really bad jokes.

There's Epi89 in a nutshell. Or a blog, rather. Hope you enjoy listening. If you do (or if you don't), or if you'd like to tell me about a comedy podcast worth clipping that we haven't featuring on Succotash yet, drop me a line at marc@SuccotashShow.com OR call into the Succotash Hotline at (818) 921-7212 (also uptuyu on Skype…) and leave a message that we'll feature on the show.

Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge while I show you what we’ve got in store for you this episode…

First off, thanks to all the Succotashians who Liked and/or commented on the picture I posted on Facebook and Google+ last week of me holding my first place award for Editorial Cartoons from the California Newspaper Publishers Association! (I draw a weekly cartoon for the Half Moon Bay Review here in Northern California…)

Secondly, I don’t know if you bothered to listen in on our “halfisode” Epi87.5 last week, which was just me, rambling, on my way up Interstate 5 from Los Angeles. But this week it’s clips.

Clips, clips, clips.

Clips from comedy podcasts from around the world. Some I collected. Some were harvested by our ace associate producer Tyson Saner, and a few were sent in by comedy podcasters themselves. (BTW, if YOU’RE a comedy podcaster or if you’re a listener who has a suggestion for a comedy podcast we should clip, just drop me a note at marc@SuccotashShow.com and I'll hunt it down!)

But it's not just clips this time out. We also have our usual features back in place this episode, including a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian Will Durst, the 10 Most Active Shows In The Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List, the TweetSack segment AND a brand new Henderson’s Pants commercial!

Handy Tip: You can find link to the homesites for the shows we feature on each episode by clicking on the title for each show in the blog from our website, at http://SuccotashShow.com

The 10 Most Active Show on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

AT MOVED12. The Bugle +1021. How Did This Get Made -1036. Jay & Silent Bob Get Old - 839. This Week in Blackness Radio +747. The Champs w/Neal Brennan & Moshe Kasher +2550. You Made It Weird w/Pete Holmes + 966. Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine +1668. Jim Florentine’s Metal Comedy Midgets + 881. Pointless: With Kevin Pereira +5091. The Artie Lang Show -7

Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal PodcastThis past week, for This Week In Comedy Podcasts for Splitsider.com AND for Huffington Post, I reviewed the premiere episode of Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast. It’s just Gilbert in his New York apartment, along with co-host Frank Santopadre, interviewing a different person for about an hour. Their first guest was Dick Cavett. Yeah, THE Dick Cavett. And it’s a good show – funny, touching, thoughtful, sophmoric at times and also occasionally a tad politically incorrect, which I think is great!

John Dredge’s "Nothing To Do With Anything Show"I’ve featured the very funny John Dredge’s Nothing To Do With Anything Show before but figured, since he just concluded his 3rd season of the show, I’d play a little piece so you can see why you’d want to go binge-listen the six episodes that constitute the third series.

The Jockularity ShowI had a shout out from The Jockularity Show podcast a few weeks ago on the Tweeter, along with a request to check out their show, which is part of the Torn By Sports blog out of Utah. Some of you Succotashians may recall how I stumbled through the most recent Fantasy Football season run by Chris Lanuti at the Broadcast Basement podcast. Clearly, I am not a “sports guy” and the Jocularity Show is just a clearly a “sports show”. They do get into some funny stuff, which qualifies them for this show but for a non-jock, I had kind of a tough slog making it through a couple of pretty straight ahead interviews. But that’s entirely on me – if YOU enjoy sports, you’ll most likely be right there with hosts Rick Aaron and David Wilbur. In this clip, they’re joined by their producer Allen as they talk about “walkup music” – the tunage that the players were being introduced to during the recent NFL draft.

Geeks With Wives & CapesBeen hearing a lot about this podcast called Geeks with Wives & Capes, mainly because a couple of friends of Succotash have guested recently, namely Phil Leirness from Chillpak Hollywood Hour and Ethan Dettenmaier from Combat Radio. So I was glad to get this clip, harvested by our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, from Ethan’s visit with Josh, Matt & Joe.

The Crunch Time ShowIn Epi87, I featured a clip of myself playing the Random 5 questions game on the Crunch Time Show podcast. I believe I mentioned that I would play a clip from the main part of the show at my next opportunity, which happens to be now. Here are hosts Wayne “Crunchy” Baggins and his wife, The Scully, talking about an embarrassing story around a cassette tape that haunts him to this day.

What A Pair of Trousers!Back in Epi84 we featured a clip from The Angry Chimp Show. This week I got a note and a clip from Stu of that podcast, informing us that the Chimp is taking a bit of a break. In its place, sort of, comes a new show entitled What a Pair of Trousers!, featuring Stu and three pals who met back in high school: Ben, Matt, and Rich. Stu says it’s the perfect opportunity for four old friends to get together and talk rubbish.

Old Enough to Know BetterTyson Saner has clipped us a slice of a podcast I’ve not heard of before called Old Enough To Know Better. Maybe the best way to sum up the gist of this show is to read their iTunes description: Perspective is everything and we're both seeking it and offering what we can. We're looking for some sanity and a way forward in the world, perhaps you can help? Sometimes digressive and silly, sometimes focused and serious, always honest and aiming to be more. Our taste features host Eden chatting up guests AJ – from the podcast Sup Dude, and Jason about the mechanics of stand-up comedy and storytelling on stage.

Like I’m An IdiotIsn’t it great when a podcaster hits on a simple formula that works? The kind that makes other podcasters kicks themselves for not having thought of it before? Josh Cagan has done it with his Like I’m An Idiot podcast, in which he is The Idiot and he ask smart people – i.e. his guests – to explain things to him. In his Epi29, he wanted guest Erika Hall to help him understand “What the fuck is going on in San Francisco?”

Picnic Time PodcastAssociate Producer Tyson Saner picked this of the Picnic Time Podcast which, I guess, is related to but not the same as the Picnic Time Radio Morning Morning Show. One host, Adam, is on both, but Jesse is only on the podcast. I think. I’m confused. Anyway, Adam and Jesse talk in this clip about an interesting revelation, so to speak, that has come to life about the late Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church.

In wrapping up Epi88, just a reminder that we tweet @SuccotashShow on Twitter and you can also like us on Facebook. Remember that if you’re shopping Amazon, please come to http://SuccotashShow.com first and click on the Amazon banner at the top of the page. You end up in the same place but when you buy something, we get a little taste from Amazon.

We’ve got a some interviews coming up in the next few episodes so that’ll be fun. And we’re getting ever nearer to our big Epi100 End of Season One Extravaganza! In the meantime, if there’ s a comedy podcast out there that we haven’t covered yet, please drop me a line at marc@succotashshow.com and tell me about it.

]]>01:05:42yespodcast,comedy,marc,pants,hendersons,succotash,hershon,tweetsackSuccotash Epi87.5: Roadtrippin' on the Kessel RunThu, 29 May 2014 15:23:15 +0000Here's "Halfisode" 87.5 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. I occasionally crank one of these mini-episodes out when I'm roadtripping between San Francisco and Los Angeles — or, as in this case, making the return trip.

Grover being Muppetnapped on I-5

If you're going to miss an episode of Succotash, this would be one to take a pass on. There are no clips, no interviews, no Henderson's Pants ads, no TweetSack, no Top 10 Most Active Show in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List…in short, none of the usual features that you most likely know the show from. Well, that's not exactly true. I do finish off this halfisode with an extra Burst O' Durst with comedian Will Durst that I had hanging around.

If this is your first taste of Succotash, God help you. This is NOT representative of what we normally do. But it IS representative of what I do when I'm driving long distances and that is: Talk to myself. Or, as you have here, talk to you, the listener.

In this halfisode I ramble on about a number of topis, most of which are about podcasting although the longest stretch is all about what I did and who I saw while I was in Los Angeles for the better part of a week. Some of the folks I saw are podcasters – Rick Overton, Matt Weinhold,Phil Leirness, Dean Haglund. While some of the others (including the previously named) have been guests on past episodes of Succotash – Dana Carvey, Tom Carvey, Frank Cronin, Jon Manfrellotti.

I'm also introducing a new offering with this show: The chance to get your helping of Succotash before anyone else!

That's right. I'm experimenting with a new site and service called ConnectPal that allows you to create a subscription model for just about anything you can distribute on the web. So, for just TWO BUCKS a months (plus a 76¢ service charge), you'll be able to stream or download each epi of Succotash two days before I put it up on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and anywhere else on the internet. So just click on the ConnectPal link in this paragraph and toss us a couple of bucks to get us first!

So that's about it for the rundown on Halfisode 87.5. This is just a little (40 minute) ramble to tide you over until fullsize Epi88, which will be up within the week!

Until next time, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>42:17yespodcast,comedy,marc,succotash,hershon,halfisodeSuccotash Epi87: Deconstructin' with Geoffrey WelchmanFri, 16 May 2014 00:36:49 +0000Howdy hey there, friends and neighbors! You're reading the companion blog entry for Epi87 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. (Just 12 episodes left until we hit 100, which will mark the end of Season 1. What can I say? Long seasons. Kind of like the winters in Game of Thrones…)

In addition to a barrelful of podcast clips this episode, I had a fascinating chat with Geoffrey Welchman. I announced last week that GW was folding up the tent on Inverse Delirium, his 4-year-old podcast, which he has done. So then I thought it might be insightful to find out what led him to that decision and it is – so we’ll hear that in a little bit in addition to the final message to his listeners that he posted this past week.

We also have our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian Will Durst, a classic Henderson’s Pants spot, the Tweetsack segment, the 10 Most Active Shows In The Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List and, of course, our obligatory nod, salute, or genuflect to the boys (Dean Haglund & Phil Leirness) over at the Chillpak Hollywood Hour podcast, who just said goodbye to their 7th year in podcasting and mentioned us along the way. I also contrast and compare the old and the new theme songs for the Hob The Troll podcast.

The 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts ListHere's where we look at the ten podcasts that have moved up or down the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast chart in the past week.

Chillpak Hollywood HourTo mark their anniversary, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness have just moved their operation over to Blogtalk Radio, which doesn’t change things for the listener but gives them a nice solid production base.

Monster PartyBack in Succotash Epi53 I interviewed my friend and comedian Matt Weinhold who had, at the time, been experimenting with a new podcast idea that he and buddies James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, and Larry Strohe – all Hollywood writers – had done on video where they drank adult beverages and talked about one main subject: Monster movies. Well, now Monster Party is an ongoing thing and in the most recent episode, the boys and guest Dana Gould sunk their teeth into vampire movies. In this clip they ponder the origins of Blackula.

NerdistLast week I reviewed the Nerdist with Chris Hardwick and Jonah Ray – Matt Myra wasn’t on this particular episode, where they interviewed director/actor/writer Jon Favreau, who has a new movie out that he both directed AND starred in called Chef. In this clip, they talk about spoilers and puzzle over the etiquette of how long you should wait before talking about a show.

IllusionoidOne of my favorite podcasts continues to be Illusionoid, which is an improvised science fiction comedy podcast out of Toronto. I’ve interviewed the three guys – Paul Bates, Lee Smart, and Nug Nahrgang (the best name is podcasting) – before and met them when they were in San Francisco for the SF Improv Festival last year. Haven’t played ‘em for a while though, so here’s a clip from their recent LIVE episode from Comedy Bar in Toronto, along with their special guests Craig Anderson, Ashley Comeau, and Kyle Dooley of Bad Dog Theatre.

Hob The TrollSome TV shows used to have very specific theme songs – think about things like the Addams Family – or an even better example in this case is Gilligan’s Island, where the theme song changed after the first season to include mentioned The Professor and MaryAnne instead of referencing them simply as “all the rest”. Hob The Troll is a show that is hosted by a character that pops up at Renaissance Faires around the country. He sings and does comedy and is easily the happiest, non-goat-eating troll around. In podcast form, Hob The Troll features guest characters, often played by actors and comedians, such as Mark Gagliarti’s King John. He recently upgraded his show’s opening theme song, both versions of which are so specific that I thought it would be fun to contrast and compare. And then I play a short clip with Hob and Corey Eno Ruffin, the guy who did the new theme song for the show.

Crunch Time ShowI got a note and a request from Wayne “Crunchie” Baglin, co-host of the Crunch Time Show (along with his wife The Scully), a podcast that looks at a myriad of geekiness, from games and movies to anything else that geeky nerdlings enjoy. They have a feature on the show called the "Random 5" where their showboard computer asks 5 random questions which you answer, then you get to ask one of your own. So Wayne asked if I’d play the Random 5 and here’s what happened…

The Bonn & Obo ShowIt’s been a long time coming but Epi9 – NINE! – of the Bonn & Obo Show has finally dropped. It’s a pretty inventive show BUT, since Bonn and Obo seem to rarely – if ever – get along, it take awhile to get those shows out. This last one took a solid YEAR. Which is why Bonn moonlights on The Strange Times Show as well. In this clip, Obo has had enough disrespect from his mic mate, Bonn, and decides to file a complaint.

Cashing In With TJ MillerHave you had a chance to catch Silicon Valley, the new Mike Judge comedy on HBO yet? Really funny, at least for those of us that live within spitting distance of the real Silicon Valley. And TJ Miller is one of the best parts of the show. He also can’t seem to showing up as a guest on the Cashing In podcast, which is probably why they’ve subtitled it With TJ Miller. Comedian Cash Levy hosts and TJ does what he does best, which is to wreak havoc.

The Dork ForestJackie Kashian and her show The Dork Forest continues to root out the well-known and semi-well-known who are into sometime some obscure or even archaic stuff. This snippet comes from her Epi227 with guest Emily Gordon – co-host of the Indoor Kids with husband Kumail Nanjiani. Jackie and Emily chat about comedy and mental health.

Center City ComedyA quintet of Philadelphia’s comedians - H. Foley, Kevin Ryan, Tom Cassidy, Reggie Conquest, and Andrew Schiavone – belly up to the mic and deliver up jokes, insults, and opinion about a variety of topics for Center City Comedy. The clip they sent in starts off about playing school basketball then sidetracks into a discussion about one of the guy’s long-lost classmates, a discussion which then disintegrates into unstoppable, contagious giggling.

All right, it’s time to saw goodbye to Epi87. Until next time, don’t be afraid to shop at Amazon by using the oh-so-handy banner at the top of our SuccotashShow.com page. Or click the Donate button you’ll see there and we’ll give you a hearty shout out during the next episode. Or click on the link to our Succotashery and purch some murch there – we’ll be eternally grateful and, again, will shout your name to the heavens.

I’m off to LA for a week. I may do a little Epi87.5 from the road if I’m in a mood for rambling. Otherwise it will be Epi88 when next we meet. Either way, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:36:42yescomedy,podcasts,marc,clips,geoffrey,welchman,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi86: Playin' With MyselfSun, 04 May 2014 23:12:13 +0000Hello, everyone! I'm your host and sommelier of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, and this is the official blog post accompaniment to Epi86. Before i get into the bulk of what this patest show is about, let's just take a moment out to consider that, in the midst of scraping this episode together, I found out that I have just won the first place award for an editorial cartoon I did this past year for the Half Moon Bay Review, the 100+ year old newspaper serving the Coastside community about 30 miles south of San Francisco.

Yay to me.

I've been doing the editorial cartoon - which I call a "phodoodle" because of the technique I use in putting it together with bits and pieces of various photos, then creating a more hand-drawn look to the results - week in and week out, for over a decade for the Review and this is the first year that the California Newspaper Publishers Association has so honored me, so I'm pretty jazzed!

I'm republishing the award-winning 'toon here. Why? And what does that have to do with this podcast? Nothing, really. But who else am I going to share that kind of news with, right?

3 Still Standing

Another thing that has little to do with this podcast in particular happens THIS Friday, May 9th, when yours truly will be hosting a Comedy Event. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you're in range to hit the 142 Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley, a stone's throw from San Francisco. That's where we're doing a benefit for a new documentary, 3 Still Standing - which I've mentioned on the show before - to help the filmmakers finish production on the movie. It looks at the San Francisco comedy boom of the 1980's by following the careers of three local comedians: Larry "Bubbles" Brown (a former Succotash guest), Johnny Steele, and our own Will Durst. The three guys will be performing during the show and the filmmakers, Robert Campos and Donna LoCicero, will be answering questions from the audience. You can get more info, including showtime and ticket links, at https://www.facebook.com/3StillStanding.

Empty Coffers

We just got our monthly statement as an Amazon Associate and it seems we made ZERO money from our Amazon portal at the top of our homepage this past month. Which means I need to start mentioning it more until you guys remember to click on the banner at the top of the page that takes you directly to Amazon, where you can do your shopping as usual. With no skin off your nose, Amazon then tosses us back a few quatloos which we use for equipment, monthly fees to Libsyn, our delightful web hosting service, and gin. In brief, that’s http://SuccotashShow.com to Amazon -> buy your stuff -> money back to us for new mics, web rent, and gin. Got it? Good!

Bursts O' Durst

Again this show I feature a Double Dose of Durst, since we missed a week somewhere between the last episode and now. So listen for Will Durst early in the show and then, again, toward the end.

Ahoy, Mateys!

We'll be serving a dessert course this episode! Just stay tuned after Bill Heywatt's closing credits to hear my narration for part of Epi10 of HMS Codcast, written and produced by Nigel Boydell. It was a blast to do, especially because I do several different voices, and whole rollicking seagoing chapter awaits at the very end of the show. (You can also click this link to be whisked to Nigel's Uncle Arthur's Collection of shows.)

The 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts List

In case you’ve forgotten or if you’ve never heard this feature before, we look at the ten podcasts that have moved up or down the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast chart in the past week.

ATMOVED

10 How Did This Get Made? +1247 The Artie Lange Show +1053 Bertcast’s Podcast -1461 The Cracked Podcast +962 What About Pod? -1680 The New York City Crime Report w/Pat Dixon +789 The Dead Authors Podcast +2390 How Was Your Week with Julie Klausner -1092 Foreally Show w/ Rude Jude & Senim Silla +86100 Beats & Eats +9

The Clips

Oh, My. God. Do we have clips for you this episode. That's not a question, it's a statement. Thanks to the herculean efforts of our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, I have clips coming out of my ears this time around (very appropriate for an audio medium), which means you do, too. In fact, between the clips and the special HMS Codcast episode at the end, I believe this is the second longest Succotash episode in our 3 year history.

Chillpak Hollywood HourCongrats to Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, the Ozzie & Harriet of Podcasting, as they observe their 7 years in the medium! The clip from this show is from the last of their Year 6 'sodes where they, as usual are mentioning Succotash mentioning them mentioning us and so on. As I mention in this episode, they've in the process of editing their newest feature film, a potboiler of a thriller with some comic overtones (undertones?), The Lady Killers! And here's their first trailer for the movie:

The Carson PodcastI love the premise for this next and relatively new podcast. The Carson Show is an example of how podcast DOES have something for everyone. Host Mark Malkoff talks with guests about legendary talk show host Johnny Carson. That’s it. That’s the core premise of the show! Guests include stand-up comics who debuted on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, individuals that worked on the show, frequent guests, and top entertainers that were influenced by Carson. In the first dozen episodes, Malkoff has interviewed Carol Burnett, Byron Allen, Martin Mull, and Dick Cavett. Tyson clipped Epi3 which features one of of my absolute favorite and highly underappreciated actors: Charles Grodin.

The Bob Zany ShowI got a note this past week from Erin O’Connor, who started out as a standup in San Francisco and has been in LA for ever so long. She started co-hosting The Bob Zany Show a number of months back and she thought we’d enjoy the conversation that she and Bob Zany had with Ella James, a voiceover actress and comedy transplant from Australia.

The Church of What’s Happening NowThe clip of The Church of What’s Happening Now is from their Epi159. Comedian Rick Ramos (host of Watch This) joins Joey Diaz and Lee in studio. Although this show included comedy manager Barry Katz calling in for one of the best calls in the shows history, the clip that Tyson got caught the moment that the recent earthquake hit in LA as they were recording.

Small Town BringdownBranden Grieder and Elliot Drew have spent their entire lives podcasting. But up until, 2011, they had never actually recorded themselves talking to each other. That has all changed. Listen in as they talk shit about shit weekly and that includes the clip we got.

Positive Push with Brody StevensI think Brody Stevens is hilarious, personally. He’s got a podcast called The Steven Brody Stevens Festival of Friendship but he’s also got a videocast which is live on Tuesday at noon on VPN – the Video Podcast Network. He welcomes comedians, athletes, and friends to discuss positive energy, bike riding, supplements, and more! Our associate producer Tyson Saner grabbed some audio featuring Brody and guest Brian Redban.

Modern Day Philosophers with Danny LobellWe clipped Modern Day Philosophers with Danny Lobell not too long ago – at least as far as our episodes go – but recently he had a friend-of-Succotash on: Rick Overton. Not only is Rick a guest on this episode but he also helped Danny move a couch before the show started. So they talk about that in addition to, I think, Plato.

Team Coco PodcastEvery week, according to the Team Coco podcast website, host Aaron Bleyaert hunts down and hog-ties a new celebrity or CONAN staffer to interrogate them about their jobs, what's in their pockets, and everything in between. It's the ultimate glimpse behind the scenes… except, you know, you take it with your ears. This clip he talks to Comedy Bang Bang's Scott Aukerman about what it was like shooting the Zach Galifianakis web series Between Two Ferns with guest and President Barack Obama.

The Inverse Delirium PodcastIt was with a heavy heart that I cued up this clip, an Exorcist spoof from The Inverse Delirium Podcast. I say that because host host and creator of the Inverse Delirium, Geoffrey Welchman, sent me a direct message on Twitter a couple of days ago saying he was shutting the show down after 4 years. I asked why and he said between his day job and other demands eating into his time and the fact he has “lost the spark”, as he put it, to get behind the show, he thought it was time to sign off for the last time. I predict he’ll be back. Until then, here’s what may be the last clip we play on Succotash from our friend Geoffrey. So long, Geoffrey! You’re a credit to the industry and your show will be missed.

The ChampsIn a clip from a February episode of The Champs with Neal Brennan & Moshe Kasher – a couple of very funny comedians who somehow manage to find the time to record these podcasts together on a regular basis – they interviewed Arsenio Hall, whose new TV show was recently picked up for a second season. He talks about when it was that he first realized he wanted to entertain people.

The Doghouse Bastards or DHB Radio ShowI’ve had the Doghouse Bastards (or DHB Radio Show) talked up be a few folks, including last episode’s special guest host Davian Dent. The host, Scott Taylor Scott, is from Scotland. I’m not sure about the Lurch Monster and NDD. But in this clip from show #159 “She’s Trying To Kill Me”, they mourn the loss of the WWE’s “Ultimate Warrior.”

The TravisphereAccording to the Podcast Summary as stated on the homesite of this next podcast: “The Travisphere is a glimpse into the world of Travis Knight, so give a listen for a few laughs, great stories, absurdity and whatever the hell else he wants to talk about.” His guest in this clip is none other than Twittizen Tom Jackson Jr., who is a retweeting mofo that has given Succotash a great deal of love. But we’re obvious not the only target of Tom’s affection, as Travis describes him as one of his “awesome followers.”

Get Up On ThisFrom the bottomless SModcast network comes Get Up On This with Jensen Karp, once known as "Hot Karl" as a white rapper at the same time as Eminem's rise to fame, and Matt Robinson, best known for co-writing and co-directing The Invention of Lying movie with Ricky Gervais. They and their weekly guests tell you what you need to know about before whatever it is their talking about gets big. This clip features guest Beth Sterling.

Duncan Trussell Family HourThe description for The Duncan Trussell Family Hour, which we’ve featured before, calls it “a weekly salon-style supershow, where comedian Duncan Trussell and guests explore the outer reaches of the multiverse.” Tyson grabbed us off a hunk of Duncan’s 100th episode, where he reunited with Natasha Leggero, his former co-host of a podcast called The Lavender Hour (of which there are 60 episodes on iTunes.)

Comical PodcastComical Podcast is a comedy show about comic books hosted by two moderately funny guys from Houston, Texas. Justin and Miguel take the lead with various guest stars including (most commonly) Justin’s wife, Heather. The guys have been fans of comic books most of their lives and have been listening to podcasts for the last few years. It took some time and some convincing, but they've finally started their own show and it's gone great so far. This clip is from Epi10 “You Drop Your Pants, I'll Rip Mine...”

Matt & Corey Talk Too MuchMatt and Corey, of Matt & Corey Talk Too Much, asked if we’d clip them on the show. So Tyson obliged them by grabbing a slice off of their bonus episode, Epi18 where they talk about some horrible hillbilly accident involving a broken floorboards and a purple dildo. (Incidentally, Tyson informs me that this is the first show that he’s lifted from http://Spreaker.com - says it appears to be similar to Soundcloud.)

That’s it for Epi86. As I mentioned above, I believe that was a record for number of clips played on this show. Big thanks again to our associate producer Tyson Saner for collecting most of those. And a big thanks to YOU for downloading or streaming this podcast. If you liked any of what you heard in today’s clips, do yourself a favor and track down those shows and give them a full-on listen. Not only did I mention their homesites but you can find most of all of them on iTune, Stitcher, SoundCloud and wherever fine podcasts (and otherwise) are located.

If you get a chance to shop Amazon, please use the banner at the top of our homepage to do it. Or visit http://SuccotashShow.com and click on the Donate button to shovel us a buttload of cash that you're not using any more.

Please don't forget to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:52:00yescomedy,podcasts,marc,clips,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi85: Delvin' with Davian DentMon, 14 Apr 2014 03:15:00 +0000Hi! It's me, Marc Hershon, and this is the official blog entry for Epi85 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast.

What’s it been? THREE weeks since the last episode went out? Damn, if I was on a network they would have dropped my sorry ass by now. But - as always - thank YOU for listening.

And thanks to this episode's special guest co-host for being here all the way from England! Davian Dent is not only host of his own podcast, The Bitter Sound, but he also co-hosts another one called Strange Times. Davian is with me for the entire show. He's also a musician and an audio wunderkind as well. He's brought some clips, I've brought some clips and there's also quite a bit of chat in between.

And what, exactly, is on the show today, you might ask? Clips, of course. Davian selected some, I picked some, we’re going to play clips from both of Davian’s shows.

I also have a quick chat with Mike Guido, an old friend of mine who started out in standup comedy years ago in the burgeoning San Francisco scene but went away from it for a long time. Now he's back with a touching one-man show, A Real Man - Dad. Daughter. Autism. And Mike's just trying to raise a mere $9000 in the next couple of weeks to turn his stage show into a video to raise awareness for autism. Find out more through our brief conversation, check out his video on Kickstarter.com and see if you don't find it to be a very worth cause. (Succotash put our money into the kitty…)

In addition to clips n' chat, this week's epi also feature TWO Bursts O' Durst with our political comedy correspondent Will Durst, a brand new commercial for Henderson's Pants and a rummage around the ol' Tweetsack.

The 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

SURPRISE! This week I'm trying an experiment to NOT list the !0 Most Active shows here on the blog. Instead, you're going to have to download or stream the show in order to hear Davian and I reading the list aloud, to music no less.

Clips

Chillpak Hollywood HourHosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness are just about to close out their seventh year of consecutive weekly podcasts. in the clip this week we learn that myself and our Associate Producer Tyson Saner are being outed on Chillpak as being members of the Illuminati.

The Bitter SoundMy guest co-host Davian Dent this week shares a snippet from his "main hang", The Bitter Sound, and we talk a bit about how it came about as well as why it's got such a unique, well, sound.

Strange TimesDavian also sheds a little light on his unique companions - Kat Sorens and Jerry T'what - who are housed under the guise of the Strange Times podcast.

Sweet Feathery JesusMy guest co-host puts his stake in the ground this week (not a euphemism) and proclaims that SFJ is his favorite podcast. The antics of Booze, Belasco, and Dr. P fill me with a sweet, feathery feeling as well as we share a bit of their trademark banter.

The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot ProgramThe eight episodes of inspired brilliance that comprised this limited-run podcast series have ended their initial debuts but you can binge-listen the heck out of what Andy Daly and Superego's Matt Gourley created over on Earwolf.com. Each show featured one of the delightfully strange characters which Andy initially brought to life during various times on the Comedy Bang Bang show. The clip we have is from Shut Up And Have Fun with Danny Mahoney.

Tiny Odd ConversationsWe listen in to a recent episode of the show which features Travis and Brandi Clark, longtime friends-of-Succotash and, as it happens, favorites of Davian's as well. Brandi coins a new term in this clip that has Travis proclaiming his undying love for her all over again.

Fitzdog RadioHost of Fitzdog Radio, Greg Fitzsimmons, was our Special Guest on the most recent episode of Succotash. During that conversation we touched on the menace of a certain patent troll who has set out to make lives miserable for podcasters. Adam Carola is one of the chief targets of the troll and I thought it important that our listeners learn a little bit more a\bout this threat to podcasting everywhere so we play a bit of Adam's visit with Greg.

The Brit & The AmericanAgain, the tastes of my guest co-host and I dovetail in the form of The Brit & The American, a fun show with international flavor featuring the lively conversation between co-hosts Alba Lewis and Thomas Moore.

Homeo & JulietI happened to catch comedian Mary Patterson opening for Greg Fitzsimmons when he played the Punchline in San Francisco a few weeks ago. That's when I discovered she has a podcast which she shares with Jason Romaine. Usually p'casting out from Los Angeles, they have a number of folks in "the biz" on their show. In this clip, they chat it up wiht comedy writer Alec Moore.

That's pretty much it but don't be fooled by the length of my blog entry (people often are), as this show passes an hour and a half quite neatly in its runtime. Plenty for everyone so please don't be shy about passing the Succotash!

Stand-up comedian. Writer. Show runner for television shows. And the host of Fitzdog Radio – both his live show on Sirius FM and his podcast which, refreshingly, isn’t just his satellite radio show dumped into the podstream and re-aired.I sat with Fitz — a nickname he did not invite me to use – after a recent show at the Punchline in San Francisco and we chatted for about a half hour. You’re going to hear the entire thing, unedited, in this episode.

But that's not all!

We’ve crammed a bunch of clips into this episode. Three of them are from former radio personalities who were on terrestrial radio for a LONG time but they’re now enjoying the freedom of podcasting – the main difference, I think, between what they did and what they’re doing is that they’re happy that they can say fuck and shit and all the other words they weren’t allowed to utter on the airwaves.

What's More

We’ve also got our Burst O’ Durst with comedian Will Durst. And he’ll be appearing at an event I’m hosting THIS week at Alfred’s Steakhouse in San Francisco. If you’re in the Bay Area, that’s on Thursday, March 27th, and it’s a fund-raiser by the producers of the 3 Still Standing documentary so they can afford to finish the film. You can glean more info for THAT show at http://3StillStanding.com.

But I digress. We also feature a classic Henderson’s Pants spot, our Tweetsack segment and more. Well, no, actually, between that stuff, clips, the Fitzsimmons interview, that’s about it.

10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Provided exclusively by Succotash, the 10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List features those shows that have moved up OR down the charts the most in the past week. Let’s have a look…

And for the second week in a row, our friend Chris Lanuti and his crew in the Broadcast Basement podcast are right on the bubble, hanging in there at #100. Way to go, guys!

It was a good week for Succotash on the Stitcher chart this time around – again – as we climbed 2209 places from 7488 to #5279 this past week!

Radio Daze

I’ve spent a lot of time in Los Angeles over the years, including living down there three different times when I was either looking for writing work or doing writing work, and I would always listen to the Mark & Brian Show, which was a moring radio staple for years down there, on 95.5 KLOS. It was Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps and they started their show in Sepetember of 1987, which was about the same time I started hanging out in LA.

They hung up their radio togs in August of 2012, about a month shy of 25 years as a team. Well, guess what? You can’t keep a radio guy down. They’re both now podcasting. Each with a different show, and 3000 miles apart, as Mark left LA and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he does a daily podcast with his wife, Lynda, called appropriately…

The Mark & Lynda PodcastThey do their podcast live on the web, so that allows them to take and make phone calls as well as keep things very current, newswise. They’ve also got a great listenership, as evidence by the fact they tagged in at #13 on this week’s Top 100 in Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcast List. Our clip is out of Mark & Lynda’s St. Patrick’s day show, where Mark relates a story about Steve Martin that happened after Mark left KLOS on his very last day of the Mark & Brian Show.

The Brian & Jill ShowThe Brian part of the Mark & Brian Show hasn’t been quite so hot to jump back in front of the microphone. He’s got his own podcast – The Brian & Jill Show – that he co-hosts with actress Jill Whelan who some of you might remember as the daughter of Captain Stubing on The Love Boat. But his show only drops periodically – about once a month – just when he feels like doing it. Hasn’t hurt his popularity, though – this past week his show came in at #31 on Stitcher’s comedy list. I pulled a clip off his lastest outing where he’s relating a story from his mother and some trouble she’s been having with a bingo partner.

Off The Air with Chick McGeeOur last radio-themed clips revolves around the Off The Air podcast. Listeners to the well-known Bob & Tom Show out of Indianapolis but syndicated nationally are no doubt familiar with the name Chick McGee, who has been a longtime member of their team. In 2012 he also started his own podcast, Off The Air with Chick McGee, where he lets his hair down a bit, swears and generally has a good time with his own little team of cohorts and occasional guests. He also shows up frequently in Stitcher’s Top 100 comedy podcasts – this past week he moved up one place to #36. The clip we harvested features personal finance expert Peter The Planner talking about the most outrageous financial cliam he’s seen someone try to get away with.

The Rest of The Clips

Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre PodcastA couple of episodes ago we featured a clip from British comedian Richard Herring’s Me1 v Me2 Snooker — or “snOOker”, as it’s properly pronounced, apparently. (Richard took me to task over that one a bit in thanking us for playing the clip.) He’s got several podcasts, as it turns out and, based on a suggestion from Andy McHaffie, I checked out Richard Herring’s Leicest Theatre Podcast. Funny! Funny enough for me to have reviewed for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com last week. We feature a taste from a recent epi with his guest, fellow English comedian Jenny Eclair.

The Angry Chimp ShowWe got a recommendation to give a listen to a podcast called The Angry Chimp Show. Our Associate Producer Tyson Saner clipped us off a piece of a recent episode but neither he nor I can find much out about who is the brains behind this new podcast. They seem to be out of Australia, and they do sketches and songs. Beyond that, it’s a mystery.

Strange Times PodcastWe’ve mentioned the Strange Times Podcast before – hosted by Davian Dent of the Bitter Sound podcast, Kat Sorens from The Rigid Fist podcast and their newest co-host Jerry T’What. Recently our own Bill Heywatt, who you heard a short while back on for Henderson’s Pants, was a guest on their show. They had some technical difficulties, namely Davian Dent’s audio part of the interview failed to represent. But’s we have a couple of minutes of Bill, with a few side comments from the other guys.

That's going to do it for Epi84. Hey, if we still haven’t played a clip from YOUR favorite podcast, why not drop me a line at m-a-r-c@SuccotashShow.com or call into our Succotash Hotline (818-921-7212) to let me know!

]]>01:19:06yespodcast,comedy,greg,marc,pants,clips,fitzsimmons,hendersons,comed,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi83: Clippin' With The Best of 'EmSun, 09 Mar 2014 18:45:24 +0000Welcome to the Succotash experience, Epi 83. And we’ve got a show chock full of the stuff that you download and/or stream us for: Clips. That's right. Comedy podcast clips from all over the place with not a single interview to sully the mix.

Most of the clips in this episode were provided by Associate Producer Tyson Saner. My wife and I have been in the process of moving for what seems like weeks and so Tyson has been up there at the top of the great dam of the Comedy Reservoir all by himself and he’s let the clips you’re going to hear today get through.

Speaking of Tyson, he got a little shout out from our buddies Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness over at the Chillpak Hollywood Hour last week. So I took the time to snip you that clip myself, as well as a couple of others that you're going to hear this show.

We, as usual, also offer you our Burst O' Durst segment from cultural comedian Will Durst. And we have a Henderson's Pants ad for their new Ransom Pants.

The 10 Most Active Show in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Last episode I pretty much skipped this feature because there simply wasn’t that much action on the Stitcher Top 100 in terms of shows moving up or down. This week’s pretty sluggish as well, but there was some movement on the charts…

ATMOVED

16. Duncan Trussell Family Hour +525. DeathSquad +537. Off The Air – Chick McGee +543. Fitzdog Radio -546. SModcast >> Edumacation +755. Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend -658. This Week In Blackness Radio -868. Improv for Humans w/Matt Besser +685. The Dana Gould Hour +3487. New York City Crime Report with Pat Dixon +42

Happy to report that ol’ Succotash is on our way back UP the Stitcher charts after last week’s dreadful score, which was at #9465. This week we’re up 1,977 places to #7488.

Thanks for Amazonin' Through Us!

As I mention in this episode, we've started getting some lovely little checks form Amazon because some of youSuccotashianshave been using banner ad at the top of our SuccotashShow.com homesite to get ot Amazon to do your shopping. When you do that, they kicks up back a little buckage and that's been helping us to defray a few costs. Please feel free to keep right on doing it!

The Clips

Screams And MoansFaithful Succotash listener Megan M. (aka @PodcastWhore) has kicked off her own podcast. "Screams And Moans is about movies and sex but not together, as that would be porn," according to a note I got from Megan. She says that every episode is different with a different guest co-host, a different film and a different listener question/topic related to more carnal matters. One of the things she loves most about her show and the format is that she gets to meet a variety of interesting and creative people. Folks featured in the clip we have include Sassy from The Most Popular Girls on the Internet, Bonn from the Bonn and Obo Show, Nigel Boydell from HMS Codcast/Uncle Arthur's Bollocks Collection,Davian Dent from The Bitter Sound and Dr. Norman Trousers from the Casa Mirth podcast.

Steve Agee UhhhI’ve been hearing Steve Agee on podcasts for awhile now but, until Tyson Saner sent this clip along this week, I had no idea he not only has a podcast – called Steve Agee Uhhh but he had a previous podcast that had about 50 episodes – he mentions that fact in this clip, with his guest actress Juliette Lewis who, up until this visit, had never been on a podcast.

Getting Doug with HighTyson grabbed a hunk from the audio version of Doug Benson's LIVE videocast, Getting Doug With High. Every episode he finds interesting people and celebrities and smokes it out with them while talking about issues of the day. In this clip he’s with legendary stoner Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong and comedian Kyle Kinane.

NSF WatercoolersThis next clip is from a show called NSF Watercoolers (or Not Safe For Watercoolers). Apologies. I have no idea who the people are on this show. I could find nothing on the several websites for the show which I looked at, which summons forth one of my pet peeves in podcasting – my PPPs, if you will: How hard is it to put out a little information on your homesite? However, the blurb on their site says “All the Film, TV, Music, and Pop Culture info you need to attack that next watercooler moment with confidence.”

Down With Joe DerosaOne of the newest podcasts by a comedian is Down With Joe Derosa, and he brings a very simple straight-forward show concept with him: One guest, one topic. In the clip we have, he reunions with his former co-host from a radio show and podcast called Uninformed, who is none other the host of the Monday Morning Podcast, Bill Burr. The topic in play? Anger Management.

Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic TankThis podcast is consistently in Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcasts as well as always up in the hot downloads on iTunes. Comedian Ari Shaffir usually has fellow comics on with him to talk about all sorts of topics. For instance, in his Epi147, entitled “Closet Case” he has Kevin Meaney on and one of the central points of their conversation is having Kevin talk about what it was like to come out of the closet at the age of 50. In this clip, they’re covering some ground about how he didn’t seem to have much motivation towards comedy or much else in his teen years.

Dave & Crow ShowDarren Staley is back in the podcasting game, along with new partner Dave Simmons. They're just getting started with their random subject chat show. In fact, I'm pulling this clip from Epi2, in which Darren has a bit of a tirade about lanyards.

Ice-T Final LevelLast week we got a note in the Tweetsack suggesting we give a listen to Ice-T's new podcast, Final Level. The father of gangsta rap has conquered music, movies, TV and now, along with co-host Mick Benzo, has entered the podcasting arena. Welcome, Ice-T. Glad to have you aboard. Not sure what he’s doing constitutes a comedy podcast but when Ice-T asks you to play a clip, you play a mutha fuckin’ clip.

Film FandangoI featured a clip from Do The Right Thing, the English panel show, a couple of episodes ago, on the recommendation of our friend @Good_Podcasts, who then suggested that we give a listen to Film Fandango, which supposedly features Rachel Ward from Do The Right Thing, along with David Reed and Marek Larwood. They talk about movies, as you can tell by the title but, oddly, in the clip we grabbed from Epi118, Rachel Ward doesn’t seem to be part of the mix…

NetHeadsWill Wilkins is the technical wizard who keeps Smodcast Internet Radio running smoothly. And he also co-hosts a live show on the SModcast Internet Radio called NetHeads with Trent Hunsaker. I’ve met Will at last year’s Stitcher Awards because he’s located in the Bay Area so he shows up to pick up any awards the SModcast wins there. He was at THIS year’s awards, too, sporting a pair of Google Glasses. This clip is from a segment of their recent "Best Of, Really?" episode that features regular listener/contributor "Francis" whose speciality is Golden Age Comic books.

Squarehead KidsOur next clip comes from The Squarehead Kids, a big ol’ barrel full of podcast hosts including Frank, Jay, Big Daddy Deck, Little Ricky and the Good Doctor, PLUS their assorted guests. It’s a bit of a clusterchat but they manage to keep their free-ranging conversation more or less together…

That’s it. We’re done. Epi83 is finito and I’m outta here until next time when we SHOULD have Greg Fitzsimmons as our special guest. Remember to go see him this week at the Punchline in San Francisco if you're in the Bay Area.

In the meantime, be good to each other, shop at Amazon through the banner at SuccotashShow.com, and please remember, no matter where you go or what you do, to pass the Succotash.

This is Episode 82 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, and I AM your host, Marc Hershon. Terribly sorry for the delay between shows. My wife and I have been in the throes of moving - not far, really only about 10 minutes from where we were living - but you know what moving can be like. Especially for a podcaster - you misplace one box with important equipment in it and it's like your show never existed.

Anyway, last episode I had fun with our Associate Producer Tyson Saner co-hosting the show. This time out our special guest is Hal Lublin from The Thrilling Adventure Hour and The David Feldman Show. We first interviewed Hal last year when he was up for the 12th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest. This year he was up for the 13th edition and we caught up with him again. (During the interivew we had some short unplanned cameo appearances by Ben Blacker, Cole Stratton, and Scott Lifton, but that's what happenes when you set up in the lobby of the hotel Sketchfest was using as their main HQ for this year's event…)

In addition to our catch-up session with Hal, we've got some clips and not one but TWO of our Bursts O' Durst with political comedian Will Durst.

THE TEN MOST ACTIVE SHOWS IN THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

Who moved the most up or down the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast list this past week? Just listen…

Glad to see our old pal Craig Shoemaker vaulting into the top 100! We had him as our Special Guest back in Epi29 – maybe we can rope him into another interview soon.

HENDERSON'S PANTS LOGO

A few weeks ago, I tweeted that I would like to have folks submit designs for a Henderson's Pants logo, with the idea we might start to sell some t-shirts, open a phony website, who knows? Listener and podcaster Dr. Norman Trousers rose to the challenge and submitted several, one of which appears here:

I love it! Anyone else have an idea, you're going to have to go Doc Trow one better. Plus he and his co-host cut us a special clip from their Casa Mirth podcast for this episode!

CLIPS

What Say You?As you may know, I’m one of the gang of reviewers that contributes to This Week In Comedy Podcasts up at Splitsider.com every week, along with Zoe Schwab, Pablo Goldstein, Josh Sorokach, Robert Schoon, Scott Reynolds, and Jenny Nelson. This week I reviewed What Say You?, hosted by Brian Quinn and Sal Vulcano. If you watch Impractical Jokers on TruTV, these are two of those guys. And Brian is also part of the Tell ‘Em, Steve-Dave podcast on the SModcast network. What Say You? Is just these two guys – Brian and Sal – talking about whatever comes into their heads. The lastest epsiode has a story about a pair of women’s pants that Sal received via UPS by accident and what he ended up doing about them. It’s, well, not normal… And that’s how it starts. The story get so funny that Brian ends laughing so hard that he actually ends up throwing up. As I concluded on in my review on Splitsider for this show: Podcast Gold.

Casa MirthI always appreciate when a podcast wants to send along a clip of their show. Promos I'm not as keen on but one thing that only happened afew times in the almost three years that I've been doing Succotash is someone taking the time to put together a custom clip. Dr. Normal Trousers and his partner-in-podcasting River Zambezi have done just that. Coupled with the Henderson's Pants logo that Trousers did, Casa Mirth ranks right up there with the best!

HMS CodcastAs I just got done writing about, I'm not a big fan of the pre-fab promo but I got one in that's from a pretty original show and put together by a fellow podcast who's recently had some tough breaks, healthwise. Nigel Boydell had been doing a very funny show called Uncle Arthur’s Bollocks as well as a second program, CSI Troutbeck. One of the complications from his health issues was that he had to have 16 teeth removed. Yikes! This has left him with what he calls "a pronounced lisp." But podcasting is what he wanted to do so he ended up WRITING one and engaging podcasters from all over the place to help read the passages from a series of continuing misadventures of a ship’s crew on a voyage to discover the New World. So far he’s got episodes voiced by the likes of the aforementioned Dr Norman Trousers (Casa Mirth), Matt LeRoy (Wicked Radio Network), Matt Brundage (Another Damn Trivia Show) and Jenny Sorens, wife of podcaster Kat Sorens (Strange Times Show)

Salty LanguageOne of our frequent retweeters is the Salty Language podcast with Bryan Stewart, Tony High, and Tate Hayes. These guys and a gal talk about a lot of stuff and recently they were on about The Beatles big 50th Anniversary on the Ed Sullivan show. Tony isn’t on this clip which our Associate Producer Tyson Saner clipped for us, but you’ll get the idea of the show’s flow.

The Bitter SoundA longtime supporter of Succotash is Davian Dent, the host of both The Bitter Sound podcast as well as co-host of The Strange Times podcast. The Bitter Sound is a truly strange and wonderful combination of odd ramblings, ambient music, disturbing soundscapes and visits from a variety of people. In fact, our own announcer Bill Heywatt is slated to be a future guest on the show.

Me1 vs Me2I got a recommendation from Andy McHaffie, who tweets as @AndyMcH, to give a listen to Me1 vs Me2 Snooker, which features British comedian Richard Herring in an ongoing series of snooker games played by himself playing with himself. Well, not playing with himself. Playing AGAINST himself, really. And also serving as the commentators and the referees for the games. With a premise that odd, it had better be good. And so it is…

Not too many clips this episode but the Hal Lublin interview runs about 50 minutes, so you're still getting a lot of show! Enjoy…and remember to please pass the Succotash!

It was about a year ago that Tyson began sending me a stray clip or two, testing the waters to see if his choices jibed with the "flow of the show". And it wasn't long after that I recognized his value in helping me to canvas the vastness that is Podcastland in our ever-widening efforts to sample comedy podcasts.

By the end of last summer he'd been named our Honorary Associate Producer. He supplies the show with at least three and as many as a half-dozen of the clips you hear every week, as well as giving me valuable background info on both the specific clips and the shows from which they've been harvested.

At the beginning of the year he became our ACTUAL Associate Producer – as you can now hear in Bill Heywatt's closing credits – and this won't be the last time we hear his dulcet tones on the show, methinks.

In the course of the show we find out a little of Tyson's background, how he stumbled into being a massive podcast listener and fan, how he found Succotash and what really catches his attention when it comes to deciding to click that Subscribe button on a show.

We also have a DOZEN clips in this show, not to mention our Burst O' Durst, a brand new Henderson's Pants ad, and even a song from out of Tyson's repertoire of original music (most of which is available - for free - from SoundCloud!)

PLUS we have a Special Bonus Interview at the very end of this epi! Keep listening after Bill Heywatt says "Goodbye!" to hear my interview with Cole Stratton, co-organizer of the 13th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest and co-host of podcasting's Pop My Culture. We were backstage (or "mid-stage", actually) following his appearance in Speechless (a show I help produce) at the Sketchfest. Our chat is only about nine minutes long but, as it comes at the end of the longest Succotash episode yet recorded, it's a while getting there.

Top 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

No wild swings up or down the Stitcher 100 list this past week, but there definitely was some movement in the chart…

I guess there WAS a major jump up the charts, actually, if you look at Succotash's nuimbers. We went from #5945 last week to #5107 this week, so that's pretty sweet!

The 2nd Annual Stitcher Awards were last week and I attended the ceremony, which was held at The Chapel in San Francisco. Many awards were given out for categories across the spectrum. I recount the winner in this episode of Succotash, but you can also go see the list of top prize getters on the Stitcher blog.

Burst O' Durst

In this episode's installment of comedian Will Durst's running commentary, he takes some potshots at the ultra-rich.

Podcast Review

For my portion of This Week In Comedy Podcasts over on Splitsider.com, I've reviewed The Nerdist with hosts Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray, and Matt Mira, interview B.J. Novak, actor/writer from The Office and the author of a new book of short stories.

The Clips

Chillpak Hollywood HourThis week’s clip from CHH with Dean Haglund & Phil Leirness features them thanking me for catching a big ol’ audio snafu in their recent episode. (Hey, we podcasters have to help each other out, right?)

SModcastVintage SModcast (from July 10th, 2008) wherein Kevin Smith turns ordinary circumstances into "What If?" adventure time, pushing Scott Mosier furthur and further outside his comfort zone as the "What if"s become more and more unlikey, bizarre and often outrageous.

EdumacationThe idea behind this show (form the SModcast universe) is that Kevin Smith needs educating so Andy McElfresh brings in stories and information from around the world while Kevin asks as many questions as he possibly can which Andy also attempts to answer. Hilarity Ensues. This clip is of Andy attempting to apply real world diagnoses to the cast of The Cosby Kids.

Fitzdog RadioBobcat Goldthwait’s always entertaining and this time Greg Fitzsimmons has him. We get an interesting glimpse into the life of the once celebrated madman comedian whose ambition these days is all about making and directing movies. To fuel his interest, he’s back in the clubs, which leads to an interesting series of comedy club anecdotes.

Perfectly ImperfectThis panel-based comedy commentary show features four variously "challenged" hosts – Kathy Buckley, Tobias Forrest, Geri Jewell and Mark Povinelli – who take off on, debate, and otherwise have their way with a variety of topics. In this clip, it's about marriage equality and Muppets.

Broadcast BasementI was a guest with Chris Lanuti, the main host of podcasting’s Broadcast Basement this week. He asked me what kinds of podcasts I don’t particular like and which ones I do. Also how Broadcast Basement can get mentioned on our show more. Having me on as a guest is obviously one way…

Nardwuar, The Human ServietteNardwuar's chats with musicians are among some of the most unique in the history of music interviews. He plays his own version of This Is Your Life complete with memorabilia and gifts for his guests. In this clip, he's speaking with eclectic musician Jaap Blonk.

Do The Right ThingAnother fine British recommendation from our friend @Good_Podcasts, Do The Right Thing is a comedy panel show hosted by Danielle Ward with team captains Michael Legge and MargaretCabourn-Smith. Guest team members this week are Jason Manford & Sara Pascoe. In the “Agony Aunt” sequence this episode, the panel answers a letter about how to deal with a free-loading, loser former best friend.

Comedy Bang BangHosted by Scott Aukerman, the premise of the show is simple: Scott interviews celebrities, musicians and comedians. Another comedian or performer comes in after the initial interview and pretends to be someone else – sometimes a famous actor, but often a character from a television show, or sometimes a brand new original character. The featured guest is Park & Rec's Nick Offerman, who is interrupted by a whiny, pissy Paul Giamatti…voiced to perfection by James Adomian.

A Mediocre Time with Tom & DanThis show was one of the six podcasts nominated for Best Comedy Podcast for the recent Stitcher Awards. The winner was Comedy Bang Bang, but it must mean something that Tom and Dan got in there. They’ve got a subscription model show and a free version and they do their show out of Orlando, Florida. In this clip, they ruminate about Salem witch trials, a hot new restaurant idea, and they also talk about making it big in Nashville with one of their songs.

Adam & JPGot a note AND a clip in the Tweetsack this week from the Adam & JP podcast: “Hey Marc, I just recently found your show and I love it. Really great work! In advance, thanks for giving us a shout out. Basically, we talk all things geek (gaming, comics, movies, music, pop culture) with a comedic slant. We host a two hour radio show on a local station every Saturday morning and do a weekly podcast. I have attached a clip from our latest episode, in case you wanted to use it. Thanks again and we would love to chat with you on the show sometime to discuss your show." J Patrick Pretty funny stuff, guys!

That's a pretty full show! Almost TWO hours of Succotash! Enjoy it, savor it, and please remember to pass the Succotash along, too!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:57:08yespodcast,comedy,podcasts,marc,will,clips,tyson,durst,saner,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi80: Revisitin' With Paul MecurioTue, 28 Jan 2014 15:06:00 +0000Welcome to Epi80 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This week our special guest is Paul Mecurio, who you would have also heard for a few minutes at the top of last episode, number 79, and for a longer interview back in Epi65.

To be honest, I was going to play my interview that I did back in October with Travis and BrandyClark, from the Tiny Odd Conversations podcast but I recorded it at a sidewalk café in North Hollywood and the traffic noise made it really difficult to listen to, which means I’ll have to visit them and have another sit down soon. Apologies guys!

I ended up having a good conversation with Paul, who was in town performing at the San Francisco Punchline. I caught his show on Wednesday night then we spent the rest of the week trying to coordinate a time for the interview. What finally worked was getting together in the last hour that he was in town, at his hotel, before he had to dash off to the airport.

We talked about some of the projects he's got going on, from his headlining gigs around the counttry to some TV show ideas he was on his way to LA to pitch, and also The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, both of which he still does audience warmup and writing for.

During the interview I cut away to play a couple of audio snippets from things like his Makeover Specialist and this video segment he did from Got No Game, a show on HBO Sports…

The 10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Here's our weekly look at the shows that moved the most UP or DOWN on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast list.

ATMOVED

28. The Crabfeast with Ryan Wickler & Jay Larson +634. Bertcast’s Podcast +1236. SModcast >> Jay & Silent Bob Get Old -1044. Keith & The Girl Comedy Podcast -1148. What Say You? +662. About Last Night +3175. How Was Your Week with Julie Klausner +3085. The Almost A Show Podcast +18189. The Half-Assed Podcast with Gary & John +29594. Out Of The Box Podcast -11

And Succotash has actually benefited by missing a week, apparently, as we are hanging at #5945, which is UP 1616 place since last episode! Maybe we'll stay away more often…

Burst O' Durst

In this week'sBurst O' Durst segment, our Ambassador to the Middle rails a bit on New Jersey governor Chris Christie. He's a hard target to miss.

Musical Break

During the show we play a cut from Walk The Fire, the new album by friend-of-Succotash John Anealio. You can get the whole album for whatever price you name at http://JohnAnealio.com.

The Clips

Midweek DriveA few episodes ago we got our weekly shout out from The Chillpak Hollywood Hour from a guest of theirs: Alex Lewczuk, who’s the host of The Midweek Drive radio show and podcast in Britain (where he's joined by regulars John Jarrold, Holly Cox, and Gabriella Peralta.) I vowed then to feature a cut from his show and I finally got one that’s MOSTLY understandable to the American ear and which should be imminently familiar to a British audience. In this clip, Alex’s guest was English comedian Stu Francis. It seems the show, in trying to research Stu, had actually gotten to the website of STEWART Francis, a Canadian comic. Then they get into a discussion about Stu’s catchphrases, which are apparently his hallmark.

ManBuyCow PodcastThis show was recommended to us via Twitter. I think it was Davian Dent from the Bitter Sound Podcast, actually. In realtime, on Twitter, I asked our Associate Producer Tyson Saner to go grab a clip which he did. But I ended up listening to the whole episode and I gotta tell you that, if you’re taste in comedy runs in the Monty Python/Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy vein, this show has got to be on your Subscribe list. ManBuyCow is from England and features two guys – Rufus & Howard. Last names undiscoverable so far. In this clip, the guys are mucking about with a clairvoyant tea kettle.

Newbs RadioThis segment comes directly from Newbs Radio and it is not a comedy podcast, really. But the host, Eric Newby, is a supporter of Succotash and I told him I can pull some strings and get a clip of his show on the episode. He has a lot of musicians on and he sent in this clip from last summer, with his guest – singer Jonathan Richmond – because he felt it “explains what we do for your listeners”.

Proudly ResentsI interviewed the host of the Proudly Resents podcast, Adam Spiegelman, during the LA Podcast Festival a few months ago. He’s been back in New York THIS month for the New York Podcast Festival. He did a live Tribute to Troma Films which I reviewed in last week’s This Week In Comedy Podcasts for http://Splitsider.com. And then he interviewed the co-founder of Troma, Lloyd Kaufman, who’s a genius of the ultra-low budget film. In this clip, he reveals how they can afford to keep flipping and exploding cars in Troma films, as well as how to crush a head on screen

The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything ShowThe same day I got word about the ManBuyCow podcast (see above), @Good_Podcasts on Twitter suggested we give a listen to The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything Show. I was game. @GoodPodcasts never steers us wrong and John Dredge himself has retweeted some of our tweets. So Tysonpulled down a clip from a recent episode and – Ahhhhhh – pure audio hilarious weirdness ensued. Starring John Dredge, Anna Emerson from the Boom Jennies, Greg Haiste from Haiste & Lawrence – and sounding a lot like Greg Proops putting on a British accent – along with James Shakestaff. Needless to say, that’s up on my Subscribe list now, too. The URL is too long for me to read and not screw up so you can click on it at this episode’s blog at http://SuccotashShow.com or just type “John Dredge Show” into Google. You’re find it.

That what Epi80 has in store for you. We appreciate it when you take time out of your busy day to not just listen to the podcast, but especially when you go up to iTunes where you can rate and review us. You can also Like our Facebook page (where you can even stream episodes of Succotash while you're catching up on your friends' status updates!)

Okay, that's it for now.

Please pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:21:52yespaul,comedy,podcasts,marc,clips,mecurio,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi79: New Yearin' with some ClippageSun, 12 Jan 2014 21:06:00 +0000Howdy and Happy New Year from Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast! In typical fashion, this greeting isn't coming until the second week of the new year. We kick off the show with Skype visit from comedian, podcaster, and friend of the show Paul Mecurio. He's going to be at The Punchline in San Franciscothis week, so if you're in the Bay Area, be sure to check him out! (I'll be at the Wednesday night show and will be packing some of our Succotash magnetic buttons - just ask me for one!)

I'll be meeting up with Paul and doing a face-to-face sitdown for a longer chat which we'll feature on an upcoming epi.

Paul's opening intro with me is only a few minutes of this show, which means we've got time for a bunch of clips, our Burst O' Durst - in which political comedian Will Durst gives us his predictions for 2014, an ad for Henderson's Auld Lang Slacks, our Tweetsack segment, and the pilot episode for Adam Barker's new Batfella pod series!

As I announce in this week's episode, our Honorary Associate Producer Tyson Saner is no longer honorary, he's actually the Official Associate Producer! While there's no salary or benefits that come with the gig, we're honored to have his services in harvesting clips from the vast field of comedy podcasts out there. And he'll be co-hosting an upcoming episode soon, so you'll get to hear from the man himself.

The 10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Of the shows that moved the most on this week'sTop 100, nine were up and only one was down.

Big Pop FunWe’ve featured Big Pop Fun before. That's the podcast hosted by comedian and actor Tom F. Wilson. It’s a nicely put-together interview show and recently the guest was none other than friend-of-SuccotashTravis Clark from the Tiny Odd Conversations podcast. (I have my own interview that I haven’t had a chance to get to that I did with Travis and his wife Brandi when I was in LA for the Podfest last October. I'll post it soon. I promise!

This Ain’t IowaI’m often talking about how vast the world of podcasting is and comedy podcasts comprise a major continent of that world. It’s so big that it’s hard to see – or hear – everything until it’s too late. This Ain’t Iowa is a podcast out of Las Vegas, hosted by comedian Brian Mollica and it’s been chugging along since 2006. But now that chugging is coming to an end. Brian’s doing his “farewell tour” of the show, as he calls it, and has been having past co-hosts and regular guests calling and dropping in. One of those guest was a guy who was only ever identified on the show as “Wooden Spoon” and Spoon seems to have a somewhat colored and checkered past on the show.

Pop My CultureWe haven’t heard from the Pop My Culture podcast for a while, with Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland - oh, they've been podcasting, we just haven't played a clip from them recently - but we’re going to hear from them now, along with their guest Armin Shimmerman, who you might know from his role as Quark on Deep Space Nine.

Break Room PartyI first caught wind of the Break Room Party podcast on Twitter so I decided to check ‘em out. At first, it sounded to me like one of those dreaded “shootin’ the shit” shows I’ve kind of come to fear having to slog through but I hung in there. Sure enough, the four hosts – Josh, Brandon, Trey & Ryan – didn’t disappoint. What they lack in comedy chops they make up for in comraderie and good natured ribbing. PLUS they dispense business advice. Every episode’s a different topic and this time it was about The Interview. The boys got off into a sideline about How To Turn The Interview Around.

UttabullAnother show that came via a Twitter reference is the first podcast that I’d heard of that originates from the Isle of Man in the British Isles. Liam and Jason are the hosts of Uttabull. (Or, rather, Liam seems to be THE host while Jason USUALLY shows up.) They do a segment called Jason’s News and that’s where I pulled this clip from, as the gents get into a story from somewhere in Poland.

Hangin’ OutcastTwitter was once again the conduit for me virtually meeting up with the Hangin’ Outcast podcast. These guys – Alex and Justin - are located in the Heart of the Inland Empire, which is another way of talking a whole bunch of nothing off the beaten track in Southern California. From this episode, I pulled the two hosts doling out some advice for those who want some to get into this podcast game.

The 31 PodcastTyson Saner clipped us something from a show I hadn’t heard of before: The 31 Podcast. It’s basically a twist on the old “20 Questions” game, in which the host, Brandt Tobler, asks his guests 31 questions. Not sure why. But here he is with his guest Tom Segura, cohost of his own podcast, Your Mom’s House.

BatfellaHere's the FULL debut episode of Adam Barker’s parody audio series, The Adventures of Batfella. Written and voiced by Adam along with some guests. Episode one, of many more to come, features the voice talents of British actress Rita Ramnani. If you're an Adam Barker fan (And, really, who isn't?), you should enjoy this show and not just because the two podcasts that Adam normally does – the Oddcast Podcast UK and Its Not Soccer are taking a break until early spring while his girlfriend has a baby.

There it is then. Epi79 is done. 2014 is off and running. And all is right with the world. I want to thank you, our listener, for doing us the honor of listening, I hope you continue to listen and, what’s more it would be delicious of you if you were to pass the Succotash…

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:04:11yespodcast,paul,comedy,marc,clips,mecurio,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi78: Christmasin' After The FactSun, 29 Dec 2013 02:19:00 +0000As Santa Claus said after a day of delivering toys around the world, "Oy." This Epi78 of Succotash was intended to be our Christmas episode but between the crush of business, holiday shenanigans, a wicked cold and assorted other speed bumps, it's only getting out now. And how was YOUR holiday?

We have a brief chat with Rachel Eaton, the Director of Content Partnership at Stitcher. We start out talking about the nominations for the 2nd Annual Stitcher Awards but they closed the Sunday before Christmas. Fortunately, Rachel also talks about the voting portion of the awards. The finalists to get your votes in each category will be announced on Tuesday, December 31st, after which you can begin voting at the Stitcher site. (I appreciate that Rachel took time out to talk via phone while on vacation visiting family back in Boston!)

We've also got a bunch of clips for you - many of which were harvested by Tyson Saner, our go-to guy and Honorary Associate Producer. He's also one of the three folks who called into the Succotash Hotline and dropped a holiday greeting on our listeners, all of which are featured in this episode. If you'd like to hear more of his melodious tones, I've been chatting with him about co-hosting an episode of Succotash sometime in January.

SONG OF THE SEASON

Our friend, fellow podcaster (Functional Nerds) and novelty songster John Alealio re-released one of his holiday classics, Batman Smells (A Rebuttal), and it's out pleasure to feature it this episode to help us round out our post-Christmas non-stravaganza. Click on John's name to go visit his site and pick up some of his tunage, won't you?

DOUBLE DOSE O' DURST

We're featuring not one but TWO of our Burst O' Durst segments this episode, including comedian Will Durst's belated Xmas List for 2013.

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE SHOWS ON THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCASTS LIST

Here's the way the movers, shakers, and droppers shaped up this past week:

Amish Baby MachineThis clip was a request I made of Tyson Saner after I read last week’s Top 10 Most Active Show On Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcast list. The show jumped up over 500 places to get in. So I asked Tyson to grab me a sample. In this taste, hosts Dags and Jeff welcome back Dan Simon, who shares tales from his recent African adventure.

WTFOne of the best known podcasts around is WTF or What The Fuck, with Marc Maron. He recently hit his epi450 and had Will Farrell on as his guest, which I reviewed for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com. A few weeks earlier, Marc had author David Sedaris on and he’s a favorite of our friend Tyson Saner, who provided us with this clip of Sedaris reading from Marc’s recently published book. (Marc's IFC TV series Maron returns in May of the new year.)

Broadcast BasementChris Lanuti runs his show from an actual bar he has in his actual basement, surrounded by actual friends like Acoustic Mike and Wild Bill as well as whomever drops in. Chris is a former radio guy who knows how to run a show and I guess he’s the commissioner of the Broadcast Basement Fantasy Football League in which our Succotash Rocs did okay in this season, considering I know nothing about football other than the fact it’s the brown oblong ball. This clip focuses on that newish Christmas tradition: The Elf On The Shelf.

Seven Days A GeekThe lads over at Seven Days A Geek recently held their “30 Days of Podcasting” event. These guys aren’t just podcasters but they also get into the nuts and bolts of podcasting a lot – well worth subscribing. In this clip, Jay “The Angry Ginger” and Jeremy McBlizzard discuss horror movies including The Human Centipede.

The Black Guy Who TipsTyson Saner has clipped us a hunk of a pretty popular show featuring married couple Rod and Karen – no last names – who have been together since they were 16 and got marreid in 2002. They kick stuff around and also have interesting guests. This slice features the couple discussing R.Kelly’s ill-advised Q&A session via Twitter a little while back.

Big & CleverThis podcast out of England has been around for three years and if it hadn’t been brought to my attention by one of our friends on Twitter, I still might have heard about these guys Danny Blaze and Keith True. They’re a pair of DJs and, much like our new friends Trev & Ben, they talk about news of the day, current events, pop culture and enjoy taking shots at each each other every now and then as well.

There you go. A little over an hour of podcast gold. You can help us out for the new year by heading over to iTunes and gives us a nice star rating and perhaps a short review. You can also give us a "Thumbs Up" on Stitcher, Like us on Facebook, give us a heart on SoundCloud or Favorite our tweets when you see 'em on Twitter. You can also help us to offset expenses by clicking on the Donate button on the righthad side of our SuccotashShow.com website, dipping into your Christmas bonus and sending a little smidgen our way. We'll regale you in word and verse on the show.

Best wishes for a great 2014 and we'll talk to you next year!

- Marc Hershon

]]>01:08:09yespodcast,john,itunes,comedy,stitcher,holiday,marc,rachel,will,clips,tyson,durst,saner,eaton,anealio,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi77: Visitin' with Larry "Bubbles" BrownWed, 11 Dec 2013 06:36:00 +0000I'm Marc Hershon and this is the official blog entry for Epi77 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. Big thanks as always to our engineer-producer Joe Paulino, our announcer Bill Heywatt, our booth assistant Kenny Durgess and – once again – our Honorary Associate Producer Tyson Saner, who provided several of the clips you’re going to here in this episode. (Don't forge to look Tyson up on Soundcloud.com and listen to some of his original music.)

Not sure how you found yourself to the Succotash blog, but I invite you to listen to my podcast streaming from the homesite or from Stitcher On-Demand Radio OR from SoundCloud. Of course you can download us from iTunes AND we get replayed over on CWERadio.com as well.

Our special guest this week is Larry “Bubbles’ Brown, who is a standup comedian in San Francisco. You may have heard on a past episode of Succotash – he was with Dana Carvey in the car in Epi58 when the three of us hit the road to a couple of gigs. And he was also on Epi55, one of the crew at the table when I interview Andy Kindler.

Larry has been a fixture in the San Francisco comedy scene pretty much since he started (1981) and had rarely ventured far from home. Although he does get out on the road once in a while and has even been on David Letterman's show - twice - 21 years between appearances.

Our interview this episode is just us – one-on-one – back at D’Angelo’s, the same Mill Valley restaurant where the Kindler interview took place. Larry’s also one-third of the subject of a new documentary, 3 Still Standing, that’s been made about comedy in San Francisco starting back in the 80’s, and we talk more about that.

Because of the length of my interview with Larry, we have fewer clips that usual this episode but we still have a nice big handful of ‘em.

As I mentioned last week, I’m no longer going to tag every clip with the fact you can download the shows from iTunes and Stitcher.com, because it’s pretty much a given. But I’ll mention the homesite and some of the other places you can pick up the show.

RECORD YOUR CHRISTMAS SHOUT OUT!

Got a note via Facebook from Bonn, of The Strange Times Show and also of The Bonn & Obo Show. He wanted to know if we were planning any kind of special Christmas show and was I interested him putting something together for it. We weren't BUT, after getting Bonn's message, I figured we should do something after all. SO, to any and all comedy podcasters within sight of this blog, just pick up your phone and call the Succotash Hotline at (818) 921-7212 and leave a holiday greeting! You can plug your show, tell me how great Succotash is, do a shoutout to your loved ones, whatever. And I’ll play it on the show as we get near to Christmas.

FEATURES

In addition to our Burst O' Durst, with comedian Will Durst running down his Top 10 news stories of 2013, we have promo from the folks over at the StoryWorthy podcast - Christine Blackburn and Hannis Phinney - who made it special for us by including Dean Haglund from the Chillpak Hollywood Hour podcast. AND we have a new Henderson's Pants commercial with something special just in time for the holiday!

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE ON STITCHER'S TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

In this feature, found exclusively on Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, we don’t look at the shows sitting up at the TOP of the list but, instead, those podcasts that have moved the most up OR down the Top 100 in the past week. How’d it shake out this time around?

The Amish Baby Machine podcast?! Best title ever! Can't wait to check that one out.

Hey, the 2nd Annual Stitcher Awards are gearing up, which means nominations are open NOW! You can even nominate THIS show, your favorite Succotash podcast, to win! Go to Stitcher or hop on over to our homepage at http://SuccotashShow.com and click on the Stitcher Award button on the right hand side!

THE CLIPS

Modern Day Philosophers with Danny LobellThis new podcast features comedian Danny Lobell trying to his head around philosophy, which he does by inviting various comedian guests to come on and talk about a particular philosopher. Most recently, he had one of my favorite podcaster/comedians on, Bill Burr, and he threw 18th century’s Adam Smith at him, which they start to get into after Bill covers a little of his early home life.

Overview with Rick OvertonOne of my best friends is also a very funny comedian and has been running some great interviews from the helm of his own podcast. I’m talking about Rick Overton and Overview. He sat down recently with a guy whose radio show I’ve loved for years, Phil Hendrie.

Last Week On EarthComedian Ben Gleib appears frequently on Chelsea Lately and had a popular TV show that he directed, wrote, and starred in for the National Lampoon Network back in the mid-aughts. He’s up to 109 episodes of his SModcast podcast The Last Week On Earth, where he talks about news, politics, and sports. Normally he has a guest but he occasionally goes it alone, like in the clip we're featuring, where he speculates on what the upcoming TV show based on the old movie Ghost starring Patrick Swayze might be like.

AnxieTea PartySecond time around for us to feature a clip from AnxieTea Party with Kathy Hopkins. In Epi32, she hosts Dian Bachar. You might recognize him from his work with Trey Stone and Matt Parker of South Park fame – he was in BASEketball and Orgasmo. He talks with Kathy about comedy writing, improv as it pertains to acting, and social situations where people could benefit from a little “give and take”.

That’s most of the highlights of Epi77. (More bits and pieces lurking around in the episode that I didn't bother to mention here, so check it out!) Thanks for hanging out! Remember to take it easy on the road this holiday season and please don’t ever, ever, ever forget to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:29:30yespodcast,interview,comedy,larry,marc,brown,clips,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi76: Podfestin' with Chris ManciniMon, 02 Dec 2013 09:19:00 +0000Welcome to Epi76 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. To start off, and I've mentioned this on the show before, I don’t understand why some podcasts have “seasons”, like on television, or how they determine how many episodes constitute said seasons or why.

It’s all quite arbitrary.

But I have decided that we are going to start following this obtuse convention so welcome to the first season of Succotash, already in progress. This is episode 76, which means there are only 23 episodes left before the big season finale!

That’s right. You heard it here first: Episode 100 will be this show’s season closer.

Maybe we’ll make it a big deal. A live show somewhere, with lots of guests, lots of podcasters calling in and sending in messages. It’s a ways off, of course. At the rate I drop episodes, we’re looking at next summer sometime. A great time for a season finale! Or maybe it will be just me, huddled in my car in the pre-dawn light, trying not to wake the neighbors as I talk to you, our loyal listener.

Our show mostly has made its bones playing clips of comedy podcasts from around the world but we also feature interviews. This week our Special Guest is Chris Mancini. This is last of my official LA Podcast Festival interviews – it’s only taken two months to get through them all – and Chris is one of the creators and organizers of the PodFest. Chris is also co-host of the Comedy Film Nerds podcast, along with Graham Elwood, a previous guest on this show.

The Comedy Film Nerds podcast is a spinoff, more or less, from the Comedy Film Nerds website and also the book of the same name.. The website focuses on film reviews by both Chris and Graham but slso a number of contributors, including Dean Haglund and Matt Weinhold, both of whom have appeared on Succotash. Their book is more about film genres, with their contributors tackling everything from horror to romantic comedies.

We managed to corner Chris in a corner of the Podcast Lab at the PodFest and spend about 10 minutes chatting about how things were going and their plans for the future of the Fest. The Fest Future, if you will.

WHAT ELSE?

In addition to a pile of podcast clips (due in no small part to our Honorary Associate Producer Tyson Saner!), this epi also features a DOUBLE Burst O' Durst with our resident raging moderate, comedy Will Durst. Also, we have a holiday poem, Black Friday, by friend-of-Succotash and contributor Chet Hasse. And I talk a little bit about my appearance in Epi4 of a strange little web series called The Funster, produced and starring friend of the show Dana Carvey.

Here's the video:

TEN MOST ACTIVE IN THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCASTS LIST

In this week's list, there's a podcast from England that jumped an astounding 1139 spots to get up into the Top 100! Called The Trev & Ben Show, from Cryodon Radio, we also sliced off a taste during the podcast. But here's the whole list for the week:

Comedy Film NerdsThe Comedy Film Nerds podcast is a spinoff, more or less, from the Comedy Film Nerds website and also the book. Hosts Chris Mancini and Graham Elwood frequently have guests on the podcast but recently it was just the two guys and, in the clip we're featuring, they have a letter from a listener setting them straight on a movie-based issue.

Improv 4 HumansUsually Matt Besser’s Improv 4 Humans is Matt and his guests improvising audio scenes based on listener’s suggestions. In this clip, Matt and one of his guests, Chris Gore, from PodCRASH, discuss the core essence of what improvisation is about, beyond the simple “yes and” belief that’s floating out there for years.

Pep TalksThe week before last I reviewed Eddie Pepitone’s new podcast Pep Talks, part of the All Things Comedy Network, for Splitsider’s This Week In Comedy Podcasts. He’s just getting started, after years as one of the four hosts for The Longshot Podcast. Now it’s just Eddie, his head and also usually an interview guest. This clip is from his second episode, where he chats with Canadian comedian Glenn Wool, but what I’ve got here is from more of a one-man audio sketch Eddie did before the interview began.

Don’t Quit Your DaycastWe haven’t checked in with podcaster and longtime listener and supporter Ed Wallick over at Don’t Quit Your Daycast in a while. He recently hit his episode 50 after being off for a bit due to health reasons. But he’s back and still doling out his Asshat Of The Week award!

Doug Loves MoviesOur friend Tyson Saner clipped out part of a recent Doug Loves Movies episode. I do enjoy DLM but I somehow missed this moment when Doug Benson had Bert Kreischer, Lauran Lupus and Clare Kramer on and, partway through "The Leonard Maltin Game", Doug puts his spin on an idea that Bert had, and then Bert can’t stop laughing.

The Comedy BuffetGot a note from Michael Powell, the "Tycoon of Comedy" and host over at The Comedy Buffet Podcast, who says, “Hey Marc, all your hard work has inspired me to put in at least a half assed effort in return. I finally pulled a clip from our show for you again. This is Episode 114 with special guest Mike Hammock, fill in co-host Steve Vanderploeg and our new co-host and pun meister Rick DeSimone…I know you took us to task last time I sent in a clip. We have still not done much with the website. So our official tag line is "Another comedy podcast? This can't possibly fail!"Are you ready? Here come some cow puns…

The Todd Glass ShowI find comedian Todd Glass not only funny but an engaging podcast host. Our Honorary Associate Producer Tyson Saner found a great clip of Todd with guest Whitmer Thomas from “Power Violence”, which Tyson refers to a “Anti-Improv”. See for yourself how well it works…

Please don’t forget to rate and review us up on iTunes, thumbs-up us on Twitter, Like our Facebook page and Like us on Soundcloud. Basically, do whatever you can to help us out for free in as many places as you can OR save all that virtual running around and kicks us a few bucks by either using the Donate button on SuccotashShow.com, buying some merch at SuccotashShow.com, or doing your holiday shopping on Amazon by using our portal at SuccotashShow.com.

Enough begging. Until next time, please remember to pass the damned Succotash!

A funny thing happened on the way to Epi76. I had a trip scheduled to Los Angeles to take part in an annual card game with a bunch of friends. So I haven't had a chance to finish putting the next episode of Succotash together.

But there I was, tooling down Interstate 5 in the middle of the night. Pulled over to gas up and checked my email, Facebook and Twitter feeds. And @HarryHumorNY had tweeted, wondering if I was going to record another rambling "halfisode" from the road. So I did.

And here it is. Just me, talking to myself (and you) as I speed through the night. No clips. No Tweetsack.

See you soon with Epi76, which will feature many clips from comedy podcasts along with my chat with Chris Mancini, co-organizer of the Los Angeles Podcast Festical and co-host of the Comedy Film Nerds podcast.

A milestone of sorts. Three-quarters of the way there if there is 100 episodes.

Glad to have you with us and hope you enjoy this particular outing. Not a whole bunch of comedy podcast clips this time because our special guest is podcaster and TV producer Adam Spiegelman, host of the Proudly Resents cult movie podcast and also Dream Tweet, a podcast game show.

Adam is – or was – a producer on Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell – I say “was” because I just read today that FXX has cancelled it. Bear that in mind when we talk about the show in our interview because – a month and a half ago when we talked – everything was fine.

Back then, in happier times, Adam and I hung out a bit at this year’s Los Angeles Podcast Festival and he sat down with me in the Podcast Lab where we talked about movies, TV and, of course, podcasting.

In addition to Adam, and some funny clips, we have our Tweetsack, our Burst O' Durst, and a classic Henderson's Pants commercial.

REVIEWS

For This Week In Comedy Podcastson Splitsider.com, I reviewed not one but two shows — the hot-as-a-pistol Welcome To Night Vale, über-comedy-creepy narrative; and The Nerdist with Gillian Jacobs (Community, Bad Milo), so check those both out.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

(l-r: Marc Hershon, Frank Cronin, Dex Carvey)

This past weekend I got to act in a sort of experimental web series that friend-of-SuccotashDana Carvey is producing and starring in called The Funster. VERY low budget. The first three episodes – I call them episodes but they’re really more like “moments” because they’re so short – are up on YouTube. I make my appearance in the fourth installment, which is still being worked on. I think we’re re-shooting some of it this weekend, so I’ll let you know when that’s up online and I’ll have that episode on the SuccotashShow.com site when it’s ready.

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE SHOW IN THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

The Top 10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast list is heard exclusively on Succotash. Most people do a straight ahead Top 10 countdown.

Not us.

No sir.

We’re more interested in the podcasts that have moved up or down the most on Stitcher’s Top 100 comedy list. Like these…

Proudly ResentsThe flagship show of our special guest this episode, Adam Spiegelman, Proudly Resents is billed as "the cult movie podcast" and often features Adam and his guests dissecting and roasting some of the silver screens most fragrant bombs. In this sample from his most recent episode, Adam - along with Katharine Heller and Myq Kaplan – took a look back at the movie Dead Heat, starring Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo.

The Artie Lange ShowMost people know Artie Lange from his years sidekicking for Howard Stern. He was also on MAD TV and has appeared in a few movies like Dirty Work and Beer League. His new memoir, Crash And Burn, is out and has been on the New York Times Bestseller list. His podcast is really the audio version of his Dish network TV show, and also features HIS sidekick, former NFL player Jon Ritchie. In this clip, Artie reminisces about some quality party days.

Cornucopia RadioWe received a clip of this podcast from producer/writer Peter Beeston, who tells us that his podcast is created by a selection of writers and performers in the UK. "Every episode is a unique piece of radio fiction — sometimes they are dramatic pieces, sometimes they are comedic — but they are always of high/professional quality." This particular clip comes from a mocumentary about druid life in the UK, and about one Druid in particular, Brian Parker. The clip was written by Laurence Peacock, and features the voices of Chris Bellamy, Laurence Peacock, Christine Bellamy and Phil Mason.

Welcome To Night ValeThe podcast universe has gotten so vast that even I am having trouble keeping up with it all. Which is why hadn’t even heard of Welcome To Night Vale before I got to the Podcast Festival in LA last month. The show's a narrative and is, in fact, narrated by Cecil Baldwin. The show’s created and written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. They’ve got commercials for really weird things, original music, and the best way I can define it in a thumbnail pitch is that it’s A Priarie Home Companion as conceived by H.P. Lovecraft.

The Wrong FootWe haven’t played a clip from The Wrong Foot podcast for awhile. They’re a funny audio "sketchcast" and it’s high time we got another taste. We got a note from executive producer Robin Brecker this week along with a clip. Robin says, “I know you guys are busy with Thanksgiving coming up and lima beans to shuck, but here's a clip from the Wrong Foot collection that is short enough. Thanks. And rememember, defrosting is for suckers."

That's the lineup, essentially, for Epi75 along with, of course, our Tweetsack segment and a classic commercial from our sponsor, Henderson's Pants.

If you'd like to help us out, we invite you to visit our homesite, at http://SuccotashShow.com, where you can avail yourself of our colorful Donate button, or click on our Amazon ad at the top of the page and do your shopping through our portal (in which case we'll get a little kickback), or perhaps purch some merch from our Succotashery web store.

If spending money to see your favorite comedy podcast podcast continue to flourish isn't your thing, a few moments of your time is all it takes to go to iTunes, look up Succotash in the podcast section, and the rate and review us. You can also go to Stitcher.com and give us a "thumbs up" to let people know you like us.

At the very least tell a friend about us — we call that "passing the Succotash"!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:30:29yespodcast,comedy,marc,adam,clips,spiegelman,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi74: Metacastin' with Andrew JohnstoneSat, 09 Nov 2013 00:23:00 +0000Can it be?! Yes! This is Epi74 of Succotash, The Comedy Podcast Podcast, and our “thing” is playing clips of comedy podcasts both known and not-so-well known across the internet and we also feature interviews with podcasters, comedians, podcast-comedians and other folks from the entertainment biz.

Our special guest this week is my doppleganger in Podcastland, if you will: Andrew Johnstone, the host of the Podcast Squared podcast, which was initially known for reviewing podcasts, comedy and otherwise. He’s been spreading his parameters of late and we sat down to discuss that and more in the Podcast Lab at this year’s LA Podcast Festival for a mutual interview. (Apologies for the background noise - the POdcast Lab got really pakce djust as we were getting underway and there was no way to block the chatter…)

A couple of the clips on THIS show are from the LA PodFest – I’m getting to as many as I can – and that’s thanks in large degree to our amazing honorary associate producer Tyson Saner, who is great at grabbing worthwhile moments and even better about sending them into us at Succotash! Tyson is also a musician and you can catch some of his amazing stuff up on Soundcloud. (By the way, you can also catch episodes of Succotash up on Soundcloud as well!)

DURST AND MORE

We’ve also got a new Burst O’ Durst, a classic Henderson’s Pants commercials – because Bill Heywatt is out of town and we forgot to have him get some new spots “in the can”, as they say, and who knows what else. (Well, I do, but you have to download or stream the episode to see if there’s anything I’m NOT telling you about…)

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE SHOWS ON THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

Our Top 10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast list represent those podcasts that moved the most – either up OR down – Stitcher On Demand Radio’s Top 100 comedy podcasts this past week. Last week there were some BIG triple-digit swings into the list. This week not so much, with the exception of ONE show that jumped over 600 places to barely get into this week’s list.

Chillpak Hollywood HourWe got a couple of nice mentions from Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness at the Chillpak Hollywood Hour this week, one of which is by way of an email from our pal Geoffrey Welchman over at the Inverse Delirium podcast. (Spoiler alert: I’ll be in an upcoming sketch on Inverse Delirium in the very near future. And it looks like Dean will, too!) They also continue a lively discussion about spaghetti Westerns in the latest show. (BUT I think they may have lost their Empire Gas sponsor because I don’t believe there was a mention of it. Hope that’s not the case. I don’t know what we’d do if Henderson’s Pants stopped supporting US…)

Jordan Jesse GoWe have a clip from the recent LA Podcast Festival! Jordan Jesse Go features co-hosts Jesse Thorn and Jordan Morris. We’ve clipped these guys before and with good reason – they’re funny. And popular. Consistently in the Top 100 over on Stitcher. In fact, this week they’re at 61 on the chart. And they're at the PodFest, talking about…pigs.

4 AM CabLee Wilson and Rachel Wheeley in England at the 4 AM Cab podcast sent us a clip. Haven’t heard from this sketch show in a while, a “nocturnal comedy podcast” as they put it, featuring “scenes from the small hours.” BTW, they have an open submission policy for writers so, if you want to try your hand at writing audio sketches, here’s a place to try them out! This sketch was written by Matt Fishwick and Cat Furniss, and stars Chris Baker as the robber with Dan Warren as the cop.

Mohr StoriesComic Jay Mohr and his Mohr Stories podcast is the flagship of Jay’s Fake Moustache Studios, where they’ve got about a half dozen shows in their stable. Our honorary associate producer Tyson Saner has clipped a couple. The first is the, well, the first – it’s Mohr Stories and Jay’s guest is comedian Jim Norton who is gaga for metal and they’re talking Sabbath.

Industry StandardsIf you’re savvy to the standup scene at all, you’ve got to be familiar with the name Barry Katz. Starting in Boston in the 80’s, he started in as a standup as well as a booker for clubs all over the New England area. By the early 90’s he hung up his comedy cleats and began managing comedians – landing clients on Saturday Night Live, record deals, tour dates, the works. The guys a heavy hitter, having kicked off comedians' careers, produced movies, TV shows, and giant concerts. And now he’s a podcaster, too. Gee, Barry, leave something for the rest of us! On a recent episode of his podcast Industry Standards, Barry spoke with Robert Morton, the producer of Late Night with David Letterman.

Hey TeensJon and Eric are fully grown adults who reminisce about their awkward teen years on the Hey Teens podcast. The show’s been around a little over a year and THEY had some listener from Glascow little paper cutout dolls of themselves. Damn! Who do I have to clip to get some damned paper dolls! Anyway, on Hey Teens recently, they talked with guest Whitney Moore who talks about Birdemic!

The TenderloinsOur Honorary AP Tyson Saner sent this slip in and I ALMOST didn’t include it this epi because I was certain that I’d played another clip from this same episode of The Tenderloins before. But I’ll be damned if I can find it so what the heck? Sal Vulcano, Joe Gatto, James Murray and Brian Quinn – The Tenderloins - are probably better known for their hit Tru TV show, i. Here the boys discuss bad dating experiece.

Thanks again to our special guest Andrew Johnstone. And, of course, thanks to you, our loyal listeners. If you'd like to help us out with a rating and review on iTunes or a thumbs up on Stitcher, we'd be most obliged. It just that sort of thing that helps us to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:17:56yescomedy,podcasts,marc,andrew,clips,johnstone,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi73: Apocalyptin' With Diani & DevineTue, 29 Oct 2013 20:40:00 +0000The past few episodes we’ve been featuring interviews and snippets from show that were at this year’s Los Angeles Podcast Festival October 4-6. There are still MORE to get to but this episode we’re taking a little bit of a break from the PodFest. (I do feature one clip from the festival from Girl On Guy's live appearance.)

The main focus of Epi73 is my revisit and interview with the comedy and independent movie production team of Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine.

We last spoke with them when they were doing a Kickstarter campaign for their comedy horror movie called The Selling. The movie ended up doing well for an crowdfunded indie production – it played in movie festivals around the US, got a limited theatrical release and is now out on DVD or you can rent it online through places like Amazon.com. (HINT: Use the Amazon banner at the top of our homesite to find The Selling - that way, Succotash gets a taste, too!)

Diani and Devine are now doing their most ambitious Kickstarter to date – trying to raise 100 grand! The campaign kicked off this past week and when I was in LA for the Podcast Festival, I got a chance to sit down with Gabe and Etta to find out about their new project.

I've sprinkled a couple of extra audio goodies from the campaign along the way during the interview. And I got to have Watson, one of the stars of the movie sit on my lap during our chat. I may never wash this lap again…

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE SHOWS IN THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCASTS LIST

This week there were a LOT of big numbers in the ST100CPL – here are the ones that did the most and by that I mean TRIPLE digit climbs, all UP the chart:

We've got our Burst O' Durst this episode with our Ambassador to the Middle, political comedian Will Durst (whose one-man show, Boomeraging, has been extended Tuesday nights through December 17th at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco.) This episode he talks about the glitchy Obamacare website.

CLIPS

Due to the length of the interview this episode, we light on clips, but there are still a couple to keep us honest…

Girl On Guy With Aisha TylerRecorded live at the LA Podcast Festival, our clip features part of Aisha Tyler's chat with her guest, The League's Nick Kroll. (And thanks to our Honorary Associate Producer Tyson Saner for slicing this one out - the guys been a lifesaver! If you'd like to hear some of Tyson's original music, BTW, you can hit up his page on Soundcloud…)

Take Me HomeOur other clip this episode was sent in by Tyler & Parker, the hosts of Take Me Home. The premise of the show is that they talk to comedians IN Los Angeles about their hometowns and growing up there but they get there by talking about what’s going on in the hometown news that week. In the clip they sent along, their guest is Brandt Tobler, who talks about how he helped himself ot over a million buck in merchandise from a department store in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

That's about it for Epi73. Seems short, right? No way. You're getting it with both barrels - this show runs over 120 minutes. More Succotash that you can shake a stick at - although shaking sticks at podcasts rarely results in anything.

Get out of here. And, until next time, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:22:50yescomedy,podcasts,humor,marc,apocalypse,clips,durst,devine,succotash,hershon,dianiSuccotash Epi72: Spitballin' with Shawn MarekWed, 23 Oct 2013 17:11:00 +0000It’s your ol’ pal, Marc Hershon, once again and I’ve got Epi72 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast right here for you. I don't spend a whole lot of time jabberin’ because — as usual —I’m WAY behind getting the episodes out.

And I have a healthy backlog of interviews from the 2nd Annual Podcast Festival from about 3 weeks ago now, which I can really only put these out one an episode AND still play clips from podcasts that were featured at PodFest.

In addition, I’m now running into a pipeline problem in that the pipeline is filling up with content. Non-podfest content. Which is a good problem to have, but it means I’m going to interrupt the podfest interviews later this week and put out a show featuring two filmmaker friends of mine – Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine – because they just popped the top on a Kickstarter campaign for the new comedy feature film they putting together. It’s called Diani And Devine Meet The Apocalypse and so next episode that chat will be our centerpiece.

After a bunch of clips are played, I have an interview with our Special Guest Shawn Merek. I got to know Shawn last year at the FIRST LA PodFest, when he was the producer for the PodCrash podcast with Chris Gore. He’s still producing for Chris but he’s also one of the guys helping to make all the shows go over at the Sideshow Network. Shawn popped into the Podcast Lab at the PodFest and we talked about him, his life as a producer and also where podcasting may be heading in the future.

OTHER THAN CLIPS

This episode, besides clips and the interview, we also have our Burst O' Durst with comedian Will Durst, a new song just in time for the upcoming holiday, A Stormtrooper for Halloween by John Anealio. John just released an EP with that song as the title track - one of four songs - that you can download for FREE at http://JohnAnealio.com (or you can also opt to kick John some dollars if you wish. WE did, but who are we to ask you for money?), and we also have a brand new Henderson's Pants commercial.

TOP 10 MOST ACTIVE PODCASTS IN THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

Exclusively from the Comedy Podcast Podcast, here's a list of the comedy podcasts that showed the most action - either up OR down the chart - from Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts:

(Anyone have tips on how to get your Stitcher numbers up? Succotash is at 5859 this week. Which is up a thousand or so from last week, but still...)

THE CLIPS

Inverse DeliriumI like to think it’s a measure of this show's success that my supporting players are getting more airtime in Podcast Land than I am. Just this past week, Geoffrey Welchman over at the Inverse Delirium podcast tapped both my booth announcer Bill Heywatt AND the host of our Burst O’ Durst feature, comedian Will Durst, to provide their voices for a couple of characters in a sketch!

Man SchoolJumping back a few weeks to the LA PodFest, we have a clip from Caleb Bacon’s Man School podcast which was done live at the Fest. You may remember that Caleb was the host of the Gentlemen’s Club podcast but hung up his bouncer’s dud for a professor’s hat when he debuted Man School. In this clip, we hear him with guest Chris Gore and Jason Smith, with kind of a sports/cosplay mashup chat going on.

My Wife Hates MeTyson Saner - who continues to amaze me and delight you with his ability to send along multiple clips every week for this show - grabbed a clip from My Wife Hates Me with husband-and-wife comedians Rich Vos and Bonnie McFarlane, along with their guest (and past Succotash visitor) Andy Kindler.

But we’re not done with Rich Vos yet. While at the LA PodFest, he hopped over and guested on…

Road Stories with Murray ValerianoMurray was performing his podcaast live and I guess Rich Vos doesn’t just have it tough at home – he shared a couple of road horror stories from working gigs on the road…

Story WorthyI ran into Christine Blackburn from the Story Worthy podcast in the Podcast Lab at the Festival. She hung out for a little bit – long enough to record an ID for the show but not a real interview. She had to run off to do her show, where one of the guest spinning a tale was Pearl Aday, who talked about meeting and bowling with Michael Jackson when she was just 10 years old.

I Am IdiotI was trying to keep the clips on this episode reined in to just Podcast Festival shows, but there’s just too much going on. I like to celeberate when podcasts hit their Episode 100 but this time it’s a bittersweet hurrah. Our friends Howard, Keith and Ben in England, the brains behind the I Am Idiot podcast just dropped their centennial epi but, at the same time, they’ve announced it will be their LAST episode as well. Bummer. I swapped a couple of tweets with them and I found out that they had always planned to put in 100 shows and then move on to something else. So here’s a taste of the Final Idiot…

Phil Hendrie's Hmm Mmmm with Bobby DooleyBack to the LA Podcast Festival, where Phil Hendrie was on hand with Phil Hendrie’s Hmm Mmmm with Bobby Dooley, one of the better known characters from Phil’s long running radio show. I’ve heard Phil as a guest on a couple of podcasts and, although he’s still doing some radio, he is embracing the podcast model. Here he is, as Bobby Dooley and her husband occasionally, along with his guest and Podcast Festival co-organizer Graham Elwood.

The Science JerksTyson Saner found us a two-fer! One of the live shows at the PodFest was Stuff You Should Know with Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant. But they haven’t dropped their festival episode yet. They did sit down with Dave Ciaccio and Robert Chan, hosts of The Science Jerks podcast, for an interview in the Podcast Lab. Funny enough, I saw this interview going down about 6 feet away from where the Succotash table was set up. The guys talk about the theft of Einstein’s brain.

Hope you don't mind that this show runs about an hour and a half with everything we've got going on. Once you've heard the clips, take some time out to go listen to these shows in their entirety. And, when you get done with that…don't forget to please pass the Succotash!

Marc Hershon here, back from last weekend’s rousing 2nd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival! And what a festival it was. Held once again at the Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica. There were tons of live podcasts going off during the three days – or, really, two and a half days – of the festival.

Looking back on the schedule for the PodFest, I count 40 shows and that’s not counting the folks like us that were recording our own shows and interviews in the Podcast Lab. Speaking of which, the next couple of episodes of Succotash will hopefully come out very quickly. Bam, bam, bam. Because they’ll be focused around interviews I did while I was at the festival.

I’ll be playing clips from many of the episodes of the podcasts that were done at the festival as well. A big shout out to our Honorary Associate Producer Tyson Saner, who's been doing an amazing amount of clip harvesting on behalf of this show.

I got to be a guest on Chillpak Hollywood Hour during their live appearance at the PodFest, and you'll hear not only hear a clip from that episode but also some chats I had in the Podcast Lab with Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Lily Holleman - all three not only associated with Chillpak with the still-in-production film The Ladykillers as well.

The 10 Most Active Show In The Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

This is the rundown of the ten shows on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast list that have moved up or down the charts the most this past week.

The podcast at the top of the list - The Smartest Man In The World - is hosted by improv great and friend Greg Proops, who is also releasing a video special on October 22nd. Available online, you can find Greg Proops: Live at Musso & Frank at Chill.com.

The Clips

The Steven Brody Steven Festival of FriendshipOur friend Tyson Saner harvested this clip from The Steven Brody Stevens Festival of Friendship podcast and I’m glad. I really like Brody and hadn’t had a chance to even hear his podcast yet. Plus I also like James Adomian, who is an amazing vocal talent and funny as hell to boot. His “Maron in Space” bit on the IFC Channel is hilarious.

Doug Loves MoviesMy first clip from one of the LA PodFest shows comes from Doug Loves Movies with Doug Benson – one of the few podcasts out of the 40 they had that I actually had the time to watch. The one this year wasn’t as crazy as last year’s, which was unhinged. (The RC helicopter nametag was back, but no sign of last year's infant…) He had Jimmy Pardo, Nick Thune, DC Pierson, and David Huntsberger on stage with him, but this clip is before the guests even came out, when Doug clears the air about Mr. Belvedere’s balls.

Improv 4 HumansMatt Besser’s show was at the PodFest but THIS clip is from another live appearance that Tyson Saner grabbed. It’s from Bumbershoot in Seattle and Tyson says he liked this pull because it’s very “Hi, this is who we are and here we go!” Featuring Tim Meadows, Horatio Sanz & Brian Huskey, it’s also based around the Harold structure for you improv wonks, which lends itself pretty well to a podcast.

The Kira Soltanovich ShowComedian Kira Soltanovich was all over the LA PodFest. Every time I turned around, there she was, either interviewing someone or being interviewed herself. She hasn’t really been on my radar until now, but I got to see her perform live at the late Saturday night Standup Smash! Show they did there and now I’m a fan. In this clip that Tyson grabbed, we hear part of Kira’s interview with Laraine Newman.

Just Jump To The EndIt’s interesting to see how many siblings pop up as podcast hosts. One of the best ones is My Brother, My Brother and Me but there also the Sibling Rivalry podcast, the Kamenetsky Brothers Land O’ Lakers podcast and a whole bunch of other ones. One I just found out about is Jump To The End, featuring brother-sister team Scott Fitzman and Molly Harris. Their show’s Twitter page describes the p’cast as “Two grown siblings talking shit about people, places, and things.” In our clip they talk about revisiting cartoons and other entertainment from their childhood, and what it’s like exposing THEIR kids to it.

The Indoor KidsBack to the LA PodFest, we get a taste of the live-in-front-of-a-live-audience version of The Indoor Kids. Hosted by the husband-and-wife team of comics Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, this show focuses on video games. In this segment from the Fest with Blair Butler, they talk about video games that they’ve recently been depressed by and, also, games that they use as a carthasis.

Chillpak Hollywood HourFor the last taste of the LA PodFest this episode, I pull a few minutes from the live Chillpak Hollywood Hour show, featuring Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, with their special cameo guest…ME!

So there will be more clips from LA PodFest shows in the next few episodes. After that (or maybe in between some of that), I will have interviews with some comedians and some filmmakers who are in the throes of getting their Kickstarter campaigns rolling.

Rest up.

In the meantime, don't forget to pass that damn Succotash.

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:13:12yespodcast,comedy,podcasts,la,los,angeles,marc,festival,clips,succotash,hershon,podfestSuccotash Epi70.5: Drivin' 80ishFri, 04 Oct 2013 22:47:00 +0000This is NOT a full-fledged episode of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. It's a 22-minute-or-so freeway ramble from this morning – Friday, October 4th — cranked out hands-free while tooling in early morning sunshine down Interstate 5.

That's when I was on the road - having shoved off at a few minutes past 5 AM - heading for the 2nd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival.

Unlike my last I-5 blast - which was more rant than ramble - I just ruminate on a few things around Succotash and podcasts in general. A little self-chatter about where the state of the art form is these days and some speculation on where it may be going.

There are NO clips in this brief "episette", nor is there a Henderson's Pants commercial, a Burst O' Durst or any of the other usual trapping of our show.

My plan - as I discuss in this epi - is to assemble upcoming Epi71 while I'm sitting in attendance at the PodFest. Hopefully while comfortably ensconced at a table in the "Podcast Lab", but somewhere at the La Meridian Delfina Hotel no matter what. So if you're there and want to see how I assemble a "normal" episode of the show, I'll be making the sausage right there in the open.

Enough babble for a short little epi like this. On with the show!

Oh, and don't forget to keep passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>25:24yescomedy,podcasts,marc,clips,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi70: Hittin' Seventy!Fri, 27 Sep 2013 03:36:00 +0000Welcome to EPISODE SEVENTY of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. 70!!! Seems like only yesterday I was asking myself "How do I get my voice to come out of that sound thingee?" I estimate that, in these first 70 episodes, that we have played over 630 podcast clips. Listenership continues to grow. And we have consistently been showing up on iTunes' "What's Hot" section as well as being recently featured on Stitcher.

I'm getting ready to take this show on the road next week for the 2nd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. I got my shipment of Succotash buttons – they’re like pins for your clothes but WAY cooler because they hang on with this magnet backed thingee. I'm going to give those away at our table in the Podcast Lab at the PodFest, so look for me. I’ve even got a couple of big green Succotash banners to hang up so you can find me easier. You can get your tickets for online at http://LAPodFest.com. I’ll have my mics set up and will interview any comedy podcasters who stop by!

Last week I had the honor and pleasure of meeting, hanging out with, and watch Paul Bates, Lee Smart, and Nug Nahrgang – the cast of podcasting’s Illusionoid – when they were in town for the San Francisco Improv Festival. They did a fantastic job and I’m going to be featuring an interview with them AND the show they recorded live at the Festival on an upcoming episode of Succotash. You can actually hear that episode now – it dropped yesterday – called The Asteroid Juggler! Get up to iTunes, Stitcher or their homesite at http://Illusionoid.com. There’s even a little pre-show chat with ME on the episode!

NO BURST O' DURST

Our Ambassador to the Middle, political comedian Will Durst was enjoying a well-deserved week off following San Francisco's annual Comedy Day. So there's no Burst O' Durst commentarythis episode. He'll be back next time. In lieu of Mr. Durst's appearance, I'm featuring a funny little ditty called Questions by friend-of-SuccotashChet Haase.

CLICK THE BANNER!

You see that banner up there? The one near the top of our website? That can whisk you magically off to the Amazon website where you can buy pretty much anything you want. (Except, as Larry Miller is wont to say on his This Week With Larry Miller podcast, "a REAL Amazon!") The only difference by going there from here instead of right to there from…somewhere else…is that Succotash receives a kickback for showing you the way to go. So help us out for helping you out, won't you?

THE TEN MOST ACTIVE SHOWS IN THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

Normally I don't even touch the Top Ten shows on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts because there's very little movement up there. Maron, Rogan, Carolla…y'know, the usual suspects. (Oh, and still very mysteriously, Car Talk.) But this week Bill Maher managed to muscle his way in there, so good on him! Here's how the whole list shook out for this week…

As for OUR Stitcher rank, we are once again on the move! Consistency IS key in this podcast game, don’t let anyone fool you. Miss a week and your ranking sinks like a stone. Last week we were at #6721 but THIS week Succotash jumps up 2,182 place to end up at number 4539!

THE CLIPS

Girl On GuyAs you can see above, Aisha Tyler’s Girl On Guy leapt back into the Top 100 this week, up 48 places, with the kick-off of her third season. (I still don’t know what constitutes a season of podcasts, by the way. It seems pretty arbitrary from show to show. Hell, at Succotash we’re still in our first season and we’re 70 shows and 2 and a half years in!) Aisha welcomes Jack Osbourne to her show. Jack’s the son of Ozzy Osbourne and he talks some about dealing with the reality of that experience.

Doug Loves MoviesI wanted to pull a slice from this show which is one of my regular "listens" and an episode he had last week really have me laughing hard. (Which must look weird if anyone is seeing me, out on a wilderness trail at 5:30 in the morning, running full speed in the dark and laughing like a maniac…) He had first-time guest Nick Offerman, from Parks & Rec, and returning guests Jon Hamm and filmmaker “Werner Herzog”, which is in quotes because he’s portrayed by Paul F. Tompkins. In this episode, Herzog is really on his game, too. (Don't forget to check out Doug's newest offering, Doug Loves Minis - which are some of the shorter shows now under one label.)

All We KnowThe All We Know clip was grabbed for us by Tyson Saner, our Honorary Associate Producer (he's got three of 'em in this epi - thanks, TS!) It’s with Benny and Rafi Fine, AKA The Fine Brothers and is described (on their Tumblr page) as "A sometimes ignorant, occasionally uninformed, irresponsible news podcast." The content is largely driven by audience suggestions through Twitter and Facebook. Tyson tells me that All We Knowisn't a weekly or even bi-monthly podcast lately but that could be because The Fine Brothers also produce weekly content for at least TWO YouTube channels.

No Pressure To Be FunnyFor This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Stitcher.com, I’m reviewing No Pressure To Be Funny, a British podcast I’ve featured before. The brainchild of Nick Revell, Alistair Barrie and Jake Waring, there are lots of other folks involved in this topical live monthly show from the SoHo Theatre, including a panel of journalists and pundits that changes every show. They just kicked off their 6th season with Angela Barnes, Rich Peppiatt, Dan Smith, and Richard Herring, along with host James O’Brien, who keeps it all together. (We've actually got TWO bits from NPTBF - Nick Revell with an emergency bulletin about handbags and a song about randy pandas by Steve Gribbin.

Shane And FriendsHere’s a another show harvested by Tyson Saner for us. It features Shane Dawson along with his producer Lauren Schnipper. This is a new podcast – only been around since June – and there are nine episodes so far. This clip is from Epi8 and features guest Harley Morenstein of Epic Meal Time, a very popular YouTube web series.

The Clutch & Wiggle ExperienceWe didn't have to go looking for a clip from Clutch & Wiggle - one showed up in the Tweetsack this week! It seems that hosts Rob, Craig and their new "3rd Mic" The Ditz created an accidental "He-Man PSA" while talking about proper pooping etiquette. These are the same folks that run http://CWERadio.com, by the way, where you can hear episodes of Succotash "randomly replayed" during the week!)

Air-RaidWe’ve featured the Air-Raid podcast with Aaron Roden several times before. Aaron’s heavily into the music scene in the Seattle area but he’s also into comedy there, too. And he manages to snag some great interviews with comedians who may be on everyone’s radar but not necessarily getting on podcasts too often. This week he got a hold of SNL veteran Jim Breuer and talked about a bunch of stuff…

The Schmoes KnowThe last of this week’s clip contributions – or “cliptributions” - from Tyson Saner. The schmoes in this case are Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis and their podcast talk about all things entertainment. In their Epi87, they have two guest schmoes – Maria Menounos and Hal Rudnick – who discuss Seth McFarland’s hosting of the last Oscars telecast and also about how subjective humor is.

That's all the Epi70 that there is (except for a really long recipe for "spicy succotash" after the closing credits.) Thanks for listening and please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:07:13yespodcast,comedy,marc,clips,70,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi69: Clippin' N' Snippin'Tue, 17 Sep 2013 06:43:00 +0000Welcome to the blog entry counterpart to Episode 69 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. The biggest news for this show in the past week is that we're now recommended listening by Stitcher Smart Radio! That's right, particularly if you’re a podcaster just starting out and want to get a handle on this baby widecast medium. Just a couple of days ago, Stitcher mentioned that my appearance on the Podcaster 101 show is featured in their “So You Think You Can Podcast” Top Ten Helpful Tips section!

I’ve been tweeting this past week (via @SuccotashShow) that Succotash will have a table set up in the Podcast Lab at this year’s Los Angeles Podcast Festival, which is happening in a couple of weeks — October 4 thru 6 in Santa Monica. You can get more information and get tickets at http://LAPodfest.com.

Anybody can stop by our table – if we actually get a table – but I will have a Succotash banner and be giving away some cool magnetic buttons I just ordered – they’re like pins without the pin and feature the Succotash yellow and green logo. (they haven't even been delivered yet but, once they're here, I'll post a picture of them...) So do stop by if you’re at the fest. And, if YOU'RE a comedy podcaster, we’ll have our mics set up and I’ll do an interview with you which we’ll feature on the show.

Some friends of Succotash are in town this week. In town meaning San Francisco at the San Francisco Improv Festival. And the friends are the cast of ILLUSIONOID!, one of our favorite podcasts. Paul Bates, Lee Smart, and Nug Nahrgang – the best name in podcasting – will be performing on Wednesday night, September 18th, at the Eureka Theater. So, if you’re in the Bay Area, buy tickets and join me in checking these guys out live and in person.

LIVE APPEARANCE

I’ll actually be performing live and in person a little later this month. Friday, September 27th, I’m going to be part of Marsh Jam, a new improv free-for-all that’s going up at the Marsh Cabaret in Berkeley. I think that’s at 8:30 and you can find out more at TheMarsh.org.

HONORARY ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Special thanks again this show to Tyson Saner, whom I've dubbed as our Honorary Associate Producer for providing us with clips to some podcast he's discovered This episode in particular is loaded with Saner clips and it's a pleasure to have those available.

THE TEN MOST ACTIVE ON THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

Every week (or so) we're tracking the shows on Stitcher's Top100 Comedy Podcast list that show the most action, either up OR down. Here's who distinguished themselves this week:

With this episode, I think I've finally caught up with the backlog of our Burst O' Durstfeature, but only because we're playing one more double header with America's "Raging Moderate" Will Durst.

THE LAST OF BOGANWOOD, SEASON 1

We feature the eighth and final chapter of Boganwood, Season 1, this show, along with the last snippet of my interview with this podcast miniseries creator, Jason McNamara. It's a bittersweet end of our having played all the episode. Bitter because it's ending, sweet because we've been keeping you occupied while Jabs (Jason to his mum) has been getting Boganwood, Season TWO underway! Check it out at http://Boganwood.com.

THE CLIPS

Jordan, Jesse, GO!This podcast moved up 31 spots this past week in the Stitcher Top 100 so that’s a good place to start. This is one of the shows in the Maximum Fun podcast arsenal. And they are about to hit Episode 300, so you know they’ve got a handle on this podcast thing. Featuring Jesse Thorn and Jordan Morris co-hosting what they refer to as “a freewheeling comedy podcast about life in your 20’s”. The most recent episode featured a visit with comedian and writer Liz Feldman and they got into talking about a place Jesse takes his 2-year-old.

The Insanity CheckThis show, which got into the Top 100 on Stitcher’s Comedy Podcast this week at #85, is hosted by Kriss, Ryce, Dylan and a few other guests here and there. The show focuses on crazy things like working in the corporate world, politics, the entertainment industry and society as a whole. They’ve been dropping shows twice a week – I envy them – and so they recently sailed past 400 episodes. Their latest – Epi408 – is entitled The Can’t U Niggas Troll Convention.

This past week I reviewed this podcast from Dan Harmon, the creator of NBC’s Community – you know he’s back this season, after leaving last year – and also with Jeff Davis, a great improvisor from Whose Line Is It Anyway. My review is up as part of This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com. It’s a very entertaining show – and they’ve been on for only 2 more episodes than Succotash – maybe there's hope for me yet!

Frank Coniff is a very funny writer and comedian - he’s currently working on Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell - and has come up with a great concept that bends the parameters of podcasting. They’re these full-length musical comedy plays, with the title springboard off early TV’s “Playhouse 90”. Tyson Saner snipped us off a clip from The Wonderful Pundits of Oz, which picks up after the events as we know them from The Wizard of Oz. Great cast, too, with Coniff, Melissa Villasenor, Dave "Gruber" Allen, J. Elvis Weinstein, David Higgens, Laraine Newman, Emo Phillips, Dana Gould, Mark Thompson, Jamie Haddad Tompkins, and Joe Keyes.

Combat Radio We haven’t played anything from our old pal Ethan Dettenmeier over at Combat Radio in awhile, so it was nice to have Tyson send in a clip from a recent show. Ethan had a couple of comedians in – Eric Mark and Justin Rivera – then threw in the author of Why Are You Single?Sonia Everett McKie just to stir the pot…

Inverse DeliriumOur buddy, Geoffrey Welchman, over at the Inverse Delirium podcast, shot us in a clip this week – actually, he sent it in a couple of weeks ago but I lost it somehow. So he’s re-sent it in because he realized that the last couple of clip from Inverse Delirium we played didn’t actually have him in them. Here he is now, in a piece about EVPs or Electronic Voice Phenomena.

If Kevin Smith’s Smodcast brand were in grocery stores, they would have tons of consumer “facings”, as they’re called, because there are so many different flavors. Tyson Saner sent us in a clip from Edumacation, where Kevin gets schooled by someone new every time. This time, it’s TonightShow writer Andy McElfresh who gives us the straight scoop on something called prosopagnosia, where the person can't identify people by their appearances, even celebrities.

Evil Teddy Bear PodcastKorey Epps and Thomas Fine have hosted over 100 epis of their show. The tagline on their homesite reads: “Two film freaks, one podcast and a shitload of movies.” So this is mainly a movie review/tribute/slapfest. The hosts and their guest, Steve Sievers, about their first Kevin Smith movie experiences.

That's is for Epi69. It's pretty jam-packed so I hope you enjoy it. See you soon and, while i'm out, would you mind passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:16:46yespodcast,funny,comedy,marc,clips,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi68: Rantin' With Jimmy ShubertFri, 06 Sep 2013 07:32:00 +0000I was going to start off this episode with a ramble – not a rant, but a ramble – about the medium of podcasting based on an epiphany of sorts which I had while thinking about this show. I was going to be about I suddenly realized that podcasting really is its own medium. Some people, in trying to describe it, refer to it as “radio on the internet”.

And, in a sense, I suppose it is.

As much as back when television was introduced, it was referred to by many as “radio with pictures.” And, before that, radio was often referred to as “vaudeville for the ears.” You get the idea.

Anyway, before I could put my ramble together, I ended up interviewing this episode’s guest: Comedian, actor AND now podcaster Jimmy Shubert. And we end up discussing that idea in some detail, so I’ll let that go for now. Jimmy and I talked about a bunch of things about his career and one of the defining periods in his development as a nationally touring headliner was traveling on the road with, and opening for, Sam Kinison.

In addition to being a national headlining comedian, Jimmy has shown up in some movies and TV shows in various guest appearances, including Go, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Italian Job, Monk, Two Broke Girls, and a bunch of other projects. He’s recently added podcasting to his resumé and, less than a half dozen episodes ago, he kicked off The Jimmy Shubert Show.

(He's also a good sport. We had Skyped ourselves an interview last week which then crashed and burned on yet another bum hard drive while I was trying to edit it during a business trip cross country. As soon as I called him up, Jimmy didn't even let me get past the second "ahem, you see what happened was…" before he was volunteering to do it again.)

Because of the length of our interview, plus playing Chapter 7 of teh Boganwood podcast mini-series from Australia, we only have time for a couple of podcast clips this show. But it's a full show - including TWO Bursts O' Durst with comedian Will Durst and an end-of-the-show recipe for Irish-style succotash by Chef Shamus, courtesy of Kat Sorens of The Rigid Fist and the Strange Times podcasts.

This Week In Comedy Podcasts

One more clip we have this episode is from The Paul Mecurio Show, which I also reviewed this week over on Splitsider.com for This Week In Comedy Podcasts. Paul's guest is one of my favorite comics out there: Brian Regan.

The 10 Most Active Podcasts in The Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcasts

For the uninitiated, this weekly feature isn't concerned with the podcasts at the TOP of Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast list - mostly because they never change much. Instead, we take time out to look at which shows have shown the most significant movement - either way - up or down.